I Call Baby
by OldMondlerLover
Summary: Another Mondler AU. Set in S5. The "when we're 40" offer comes a decade early, in an unexpected way with unintended consequences. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

"Who wouldn't want you?"

"Please," she said, flippantly. "I'm a single mom with a 30 year old son!"

"Alrighty then," he said, after a moment as he patted her on the shoulder. "We need to get you out of here. Come on, let's go."

"Where are we going?" she asked as he started guiding her by the elbow.

"Somewhere where you can get nice and drunk," he said, walking down the hallway, his eyes scanning for space at the crowded hotel bar, "and so can I."

"What?"

"Ah, nothing!" he said, hoping his last comment was said low enough that she couldn't hear him. Just as they walked up to the bar a couple got up to leave. Chandler snagged the stools and helped Monica onto hers before squeezing in beside her.

"Scotch, rocks, twist," Monica snapped to the bartender before he could even greet them properly. Chandler raised his eyebrows at her, then turned to the bartender and smiled at the smirk on his face.

"Make it two," he said with a nod.

"Make it a double," Monica added.

"Okayyy," he said, palms down in a waving motion as the bartender left to get their drinks. "You need to slow down there, Slick."

"Slick?"

"Er, Tiger?"

She nearly snarled at him, a disgusted look on her face. He sighed.

"Look," he said, turning to face her. She reluctantly put her elbow on the edge of the bar, the side of her face in her palm as she half-heartedly turned to face him, too.

"Why do you care what some drunk, British stranger says to you? I mean, come on Mon, you gotta let that stuff go."

"Chandler," she said, slapping her hand down on the bar, causing him to jump a little. "I have been the queen of 'letting that stuff go' my entire life. From my Mom, my Dad, my brother, who's getting married…again, by the way…"

"Is _that_ what we're doing here?" he joked, feigning confusion.

"Not now," she warned in a high pitched voice, glaring at him. "Not in the mood."

He pursed his lips and sighed as she continued.

"Tomorrow I'll slap on a smile and a bridesmaid dress, again, and be the dutiful happy sister or friend or caterer or whatever supporting role I have to play, but when is it my time, Chandler? When?" she asked, not really expecting an answer. "When am I gonna have the guy and the baby and the, ya know, white picket fence, huh? When it is my turn?"

"So, what you're telling me is you wanna live inside an episode of 'Leave it to Beaver,'" he deadpanned, trying again to lighten the mood. She still wasn't buying it and now, she was pissed. She stood up.

"I should have known you wouldn't understand," she said, grabbing her purse and turning away as he grabbed her arm.

"Wait, now wait a minute, Mon, I'm sorry, OK?" he said as he gently pulled her back onto the bar stool. "I'm sorry."

She eyed him wearily as she reluctantly settled back down on the bar stool.

"Will you stop being a shmuck and just be my friend?" she asked, a doubtful expression on her face.

"Yes," he said, his hands raising in surrender as the bartender brought their drinks and Chandler gave him his room number to charge the bill. They each took a sip, then Chandler cleared his throat and cracked his neck. He nodded.

"Go ahead, I'm listening," he said, blinking and widening his eyes at her, trying to demonstrate his sincerity. She smiled despite herself and he grinned.

"Listen, I'm happy for Ross," she sighed, ringing her glass with her fingertip. "I really am, but I…I couldn't even think of anyone to invite to this wedding, ya know? I'm not. I'm not even close to…any of this. Getting married and, God, I'm light years away from having a baby of my own…"

Chandler was nodding along dutifully as she spoke, but the soft, sad look in Monica's eyes suddenly grabbed his full attention.

"Maybe none of this will ever happen for me," she continued forlornly. "Maybe I'll never get married or have a family…"

"Now come on," he said, with a disbelieving chuckle. "That's not gonna happen…"

"It might," she said, cocking an eyebrow at him as she continued to sip on her scotch. She tipped her glass to him and smirked, "I might end up as an old spinster cook after all."

"Hey," he said, curling his fingers around the glass she was gulping from and gently pulling it from her lips. "That's never, ever gonna happen to you, OK? You are one of the greatest people I know, Mon. You're kind and loving and, ya know, pretty damn beautiful when you're not chugging alcohol like a sailor. This is all gonna happen for you someday…"

She cocked an eyebrow at him, her head beginning to spin. Chandler picked up his glass and took a long sip of his scotch, wondering if he got through to her.

"Doubtful," she said decidedly and he sighed, rolling his eyes as picked up his glass. He raised it in a toast.

"Well, if I can't convince you I suppose I'll join you," he said, gesturing his glass towards hers.

"Now, that's the spirit," she grinned at him, raising her glass, too.

"Here's to both of us growing old, single and alone. A spinster cook and an old, bachelor…transponster, apparently," he said and Monica burst out laughing. Chandler smiled wide as they clinked their glasses together, each enjoying a long sip thereafter.

"Will you visit me if I have snakes?" he asked.

"Hum," she said, licking the scotch off her lips. "Maybe."

He raised his eyebrows and motioned the bartender for another round. "Gee, thanks."

"No, I will, I'll come visit," she promised, laying a hand on his arm. For a couple moments they continued to finish off the first round, the chatter and hum of the other hotel guests around them filling the otherwise comfortable silence between them.  
"So, how long do you think I should wait to get the snakes?" he contemplated suddenly, strumming his fingers on his chin.

"What?" she asked, turning to him. She couldn't believe he was still thinking about snakes.

"I'm almost 30, so, what? 35? 40?" he asked somewhat rhetorically but also genuinely curious. "Maybe I should wait until Chick and Duck are gone, or Joey's married and out of the apartment, whichever comes first."

"You are seriously thinking about this?" she asked, her eyes wide but a bemused look on her face.

"Sure," he said with a nod. "Gotta plan for the future, right? Single and 40 is right around the corner."

"Eh, don't remind me," she said, wincing and taking a shot of her new drink.

He shrugged and took another shot of alcohol as the hairs on his neck stood up. He sat up straight, turning to her with a teasing smile on his face.  
"Hey, I don't need snakes," he said, nudging her shoulder with his. "I just remembered, we have a deal."

"What deal?" she said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Well, I guess it's not really a deal since you didn't agree to it…"

"Chandler," she said, exasperated. "What are you talking about?"

"Remember? If we're single and 40 I told you we should…"

"Oh," she remembered, with a wave of her hand. "Get together and have a baby. Yeah, right. Um, you were joking."

"What if I wasn't?" he said with a smirk.

"OK, that's the alcohol talking and you were," she said dismissively.

"Maybe," he shrugged, putting both his elbows on the bar, then conceded. "Snakes would be easier to take care of."

She shook her head, a small grin on her face, then looked at him sideways.

"That's more your speed," she agreed, with a little nod. Then, she bit her lip and looked at him pensively before adding, "besides, I don't…I don't think I want to wait until I'm 40 to have a baby."

He raised his eyebrows again, giving her his full attention once again.

"Really?"

"Yeah," she said, shrugging.

"Wait, are you thinking of looking for a sperm donor again?" he said, and she could hear the disapproval in his voice. She glared at him.

"Look, no Mon, it's your life," he quickly added. "If that's what you want, then, ya know, I'll support you, but I just…I don't think that's the road you need to go down…"

"It's not like I have a list of other options, Chandler," she said with another shrug, suddenly back in the insecure place he finally thought he'd dragged her out of, "unless, you know, you want to push your offer up a decade."

She smirked sadly at him and he knew she was joking, but there was something desperate in her voice that made his heart ache just a little. He sighed.

"Mon…"

"I'm kidding, don't worry," she said quietly, nudging him on the shoulder this time. "Yes, I've thought about it, but that doesn't mean I'm going to do it. I'm just… I'm not in a good place right now, ya know?"

He put his arm around shoulders and gave her a hug, she laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes.

"I know," he whispered, placing a soft kiss on her hair. "Look, let's get you to your room. It's late and tomorrow is going to be a marathon…"

"You're right," she nodded, then she opened her eyes and smiled up at him.

"Thanks for the drinks, Crazy Snake Man."

He grinned, "Anytime, Old Spinster Cook."

She giggled and patted his chest with her hand then they stood up, slowly, and made their way out of the bar.

###

"Here's some water," he said, putting a full glass on the nightstand as Monica slid under the covers. "Try to get some sleep, OK?"

"I will," Monica said, running a hand down his cheek. Chandler caught it in his hand and brushed his lips against it.

"Sorry I was such a downer tonight," she murmured.

"Hey, don't apologize, Mon," he said, straightening up and pulling the covers around her. "We've all been there."

"Yeah," she said, as her eyes fluttered closed. Chandler swept her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. He grinned at her and shut off the light before walking towards her hotel room door.

"Chandler?" he heard her call sleepily.

"Yeah?" he said.

"You won't be single when you're 40," she said. "Some woman is gonna snatch you up and you'll have lots of snakes together."

He smirked at her through the dark, a confused look on his face and shook his head.

"Goodnight, Mon," he said as he opened the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Night," she sighed. He heard her heavy sleep breathing before he even shut the door. He closed it quietly then looked at it a moment with a sad expression on his face. He shook his head, wondering how someone as wonderful as the woman sleeping on the other side could still be single.

"If there's no hope for you , Mon," he said to himself as he dove his hands into his pockets and slowly started to walk back to his room, "there's definitely no hope for me."

 _ **NOTE: Howdy.**_

 _ **I know I have absolutely no business starting another story with Girl Crush still hanging out there, but this is one of those ones that is coming to me in huge waves. And, well, I have to get it out. :) This was somewhat inspired by**_ **This Is Us** _**(Oh, God, how I love that show! Waiting impatiently for S2...).**_

 _ **Anyway, I don't think this Mondler story has been done exactly this way before, but honestly it may have been done yesterday and I'd have no idea. There are so many stories out there I want to catch up on! So sorry I haven't.**_

 _ **Updates to this will be glacial, but I hope you'll enjoy it as it comes. Thanks, as always, for any and all feedback!**_


	2. Chapter 2

"We've been talking about London too much, haven't we?" Chandler said, wincing a little at the sad look on Phoebe's face as Monica placed her now ruined stack of photos back into her purse with an aggravated sigh.

"No, not really," Phoebe said, shaking her head, feeling defeated. "Well, it _is_ that, but it's not _only_ that. It's just…all I get to do is pregnant stuff now and it just…it bums me out!"

"Ah, but honey," Monica said softly, running her palm down her friends very pregnant belly, "it won't be long now and it'll all be over."

Phoebe glared at her.

"What?" Monica said, turning to Chandler next to her on the couch. He was just as confused.

"That just makes it worse," Phoebe whined.

"How does that make it worse?" Chandler asked.

"Cause then I'll have the babies and what will I have to show for it, huh? What?" she said gesturing with her hands. "I don't even get to take them home with me?"

Chandler stole a panicked glance at Monica who held it a moment before she turned back to Phoebe.

"Pheebs," she said in the most calming voice she could. "These babies are going to love you forever and not just because you gave birth to them. You're always going to be in their lives. You'll get to watch them grow up…"

Chandler nodded along as Joey and Rachel came into the coffee house and walked over to the sofa.

"Boddington's!" Joey bellowed when he saw Chandler. He put his hand up for a high five, but Chandler grimaced and shook his head.

"What's up?" Joey asked with a confused look on his face as he shrugged up his shoulders and stood at the armrest by Chandler. Rachel came around and sat in the nearby chair by the table at the far end of the couch.

"Pheebs is, well, ya know, wallowing in self-pity," he whispered to Joey, trying to keep his voice down as he gestured to her and Monica talking at the end of the couch. Rachel leaned in.

"What's wrong?" she asked Chandler as she cast a sideways glance at Phoebe.

"She's tired of being pregnant, unhappy she was left out of the London festivities," Chandler started.

"Phht," Rachel said in an aggravated tone with a flip of her hand. "Festivities my ass."

Chandler rolled his eyes.

"What are you girls talking about?" Phoebe suddenly demanded as she glared at the three of them.

"Ah…ah," Joey started, always nervous when Phoebe was pissed off. "We're talking about, about the...the trip."

"Oh," Phoebe said, now looking and sounding defeated once again as she slumped into her chair. Monica glared at the three of them.

"No, no, not that trip!" Joey insisted, looking at a very confused Chandler and Rachel for help but seeing none. "The one we're all gonna take with, ah, you, Pheebs!"

"Oh, oh," she said, suddenly excited as Monica shot Chandler a questioning look. He shrugged.

"Where are we going?!"

"Um," Joey scratched the back of his head. "Atlantic City! Yeah, we're all going to Atlantic City, ah, tonight!"

"Uh, Joe…" Monica started as Ross came into the coffee house.

"Ross!" Joey said, ignoring Monica altogether. "Ross, you're up for Atlantic City this weekend, right?"

"Atlantic City?" Ross said, questioning look on his face. But then his eyebrows shot up and he nodded. "You know what? Yes I am, Joey. I'm up for Atlantic City. Hell, I didn't get to go on my own honeymoon..."

"No, I did," Rachel interrupted in an aggravated voice, but then a lightbulb seemed to go off over her head as she stood up and made her way towards Ross and began to stroke his arm.

"You deserve a weekend off from chasing Emily," she said to him soothingly. Phoebe and Monica rolled their eyes at each other.

"Thanks, Rach," he said with a small smile to her, then he looked to the rest of the group. "I'm in!"

"Yay!" Phoebe said as she started to heave herself off the couch. "I'm gonna go pack!"

"Atlantic City, baby!" Joey chimed in as he walked excitedly toward the door of the coffee house, Phoebe following behind.

When the door closed behind them Ross looked to Monica and Chandler.

"So where are we staying?" he asked.

"Hell if I know," Chandler replied. "This was all planned _about_ 90 seconds ago."

"Yeah, but if it makes Phoebe feel better and we all get to spend time together, what's the harm?" Rachel said, now practically batting her eyelashes at Ross.

"Phoebe's feeling bad?" Ross asked.

"Yeah," Rachel said, becoming impatient to get the trip underway. She turned Ross towards the door. "I'll explain it to you while we get you packed up."

Monica watched them leave then turned to Chandler with a smirk on her face.

"Um, what just happened?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Sounds like we're going on a trip," she said, patting his knee then standing up. "Guess it's a good thing I don't have to work 'til Sunday night."

"Yeah," he said, standing now, too. "Nobody asked if anyone had plans or, ya know, a date or anything."

"Do you have a date?" she asked, trying to hide the bemused surprise on her face.

"No," he said, putting his hands on his hips, "but I _could_ have a date."

"Sure ya could," she said, smile on her lips. He glared at her.

"Oh, I'm just teasin' ya," she said. "Come on, let's go pack."

###

"Is everyone ready?" Phoebe said, glee in her voice as she walked into Monica and Rachel's apartment an hour later. Ross's bag was packed at his feet and he waved from the sofa.

"Yep," Monica said, holding up her bag. "Rachel's almost ready, too."

"Hey!" Joey said as he strolled in, Chandler following. "Atlantic City, baby!"

"Oh my God, will you stop?!" Chandler whined, shooting Monica an imploring look as he walked over to her at the kitchen table. "I can't…he can't start that up again."

She grinned at him and shook her head. He sighed, glaring at Joey, until she felt her nudge him.

"So, did you have any luck?" she asked quietly, a small anxiety clear in her voice.

"Yep," he replied, grinning with a nod. "We're all set."

"Really?" Monica said in surprise as she looked at him. "You found a place for all six of us?"

"Sure did," he nodded, proud of himself for his prowess at finding a hotel they could all stay in. "All on the same floor _with_ an ocean view."

"You rock!" she said, throwing up her hand for a high-five, which he dutifully met with his own. They smiled at each other. He could tell she was relieved, and truthfully he was, too.

"I'm ready!" Rachel announced, finally coming out of her room with three bags. Monica shook her head at her at her roommate.

"Rach, we're only gonna be gone two nights," she said, exasperated.

"So," Rachel said defensively, then glanced at an oblivious Ross, "but you never know what you might need those two nights."

Monica walked over to her roommate as everyone started to make their way toward the apartment door.

"He's still married you know," she said, her voice low.

"I know," Rachel hissed back at her as Phoebe suddenly stopped walking.

"Oh," she said, looking down at the puddle on the floor. "Oh!"

"Oh my God, Phoebe!" Monica said turning to her. "Your water broke!"

Joey and Chandler threw each other a disgusted look.

"That's OK," Phoebe said with a wave of her hand, trying to keep herself calm. "It, it takes a while, right?"

"Not too much after your water breaks," Ross said, coming to stand next to her. "We have to take you to the hospital. Now."

"Now?" Rachel said somewhat miserably until Ross shot her a glare.

"Yes, now," he admonished, taking Phoebe by the elbow and walking her out the door.

"I'll get a cab," Joey called as he started to race down the stairs. Monica grabbed her keys and purse.

"Pheebs, are you OK?" Rachel asked, taking her other hand, the trip now all but forgotten as Phoebe began to breathe heavier.

"Yeah," she said, for the first time her face contorted in pain, "but I think we better get to the hospital."

"Ok, people, let's move," Monica said, as she held the door open. She looked at Chandler.

"Toss me your keys," he said with a heavy sigh. "I'm gonna cancel the hotel."

"Oh, yeah, ok," she said with a little 'sorry' grimace, throwing them across the counter to him.

"I'll meet you there," he said. She nodded and walked out the door. Chandler picked up the telephone then walked over to the kitchen counter, looking for a pen he was surprised he didn't find by the phone.

As he dug out his hotel confirmation information out of his back pocket, he moved a couple pieces of mail on the counter and found the pen on top of a small stack of papers. As he picked up the pen his eyes caught the wording on the white sheets of paper. He picked them up, feeling a little guilty for poking his nose in where it didn't belong, but he did it anyway.

Chandler's eyes grew wide as he realized the papers were profiles from the sperm clinic, the same sperm clinic Monica had researched a couple years earlier.

"Oh, Mon," he whispered as he leafed through the stack. Dark hair, blond hair, blue eyes, green eyes, short, tall. Chandler noticed little checkmarks lined a few of the pages and his heart started to pound. He swallowed hard. He knew Monica was in a bad place in London, but she seemed to have shook herself out of it by the time they'd gotten home. They'd even joked on the long plane ride back from England, and her spirits seemed to have lifted. Chandler sighed, swiftly piling the papers into a neat stack once again and placing her mail back on top of it.

He cast a quick glance through the apartment. It was warm - tidy, of course, and welcoming. He shook his head. The very last person in the world who should have to go to a sperm bank to have a baby was Monica, but at the same time he had no doubt that baby would be one lucky kid if she did.

Shaking that surprising thought out of his head, he quickly he dialed the hotel in Atlantic City and canceled the reservations. He was about to walk out the door when he spotted the puddle Phoebe had left on the floor. A look of disgust came over his face and he almost walked out anyway, but he stopped. The look of disgust never left his features, but he walked over to where Monica kept her cleaning towels. He grabbed one and as fast as he could he cleaned up the water. He put the towel in her bathtub then washed his hands, not feeling like he'd taken one breath through the whole clean-up process, but consoling himself with the fact that that was one less reminder of babies for Monica to find when she came home.

###

Monica sat alone on the gurney, trying hard to stop the tears from falling. They were beautiful, those three little babies. Even little baby Chandler was completely adorable. Phoebe was so sad to give them up, and thinking of that made her want to cry even more.

She wiped her eyes with her fingertips and sighed angrily when she thought about Rachel. Suddenly she was ready to "get over" Ross and go on dates with the cute male nurses, and Monica wasn't even remotely in the mood.

She just wanted to cuddle those babies a little more, then go home and pour over her sperm bank papers with a bottle of Merlot. Honestly, she still wasn't sure she wanted to go down that road again, but she was no closer to having a family of her own now than she had been when she broke up with Pete more than a year ago. And she could almost feel the big 3-0 closing in. Tonight she just wanted to indulge in her little fantasy, her little "what if," for a while, but first she knew she'd have to pull herself together.

She cleared her throat and wiped her eyes one more time as Chandler turned the corner.

"There you are," he said.

"Hey," she said, not immediately turning to directly face him. She felt her face burning with embarrasment. He furrowed his brow and put a hand on her shoulder. When she finally turned to him his heart sank.

"Monica?" he said gently, concern written all over his face. "What's wrong?"

Monica closed her eyes and shook her head, taking a deep breath.

"God, you must think I'm a basket case," she said, her voice thick. She shook her head again. Chandler frowned and put his arm around her shoulders. She gamely tried to smile at him.

"No," he protested, then grinned a little at the doubtful look on her face. "Not completely anyway."

"Humpf," she said, giving him a little shove, but she didn't say anymore.

Chandler sighed.

"Still not in a good place, huh?" he asked softly.

"Ah," she said, swallowing hard again but refusing to cry. "Guess not."

He grinned sadly at her. "I'm sorry."

She nodded and tried to smile at him again.

"How's Phoebe?" she asked.

"Sleeping, I think," he said, now folding his hands in front of him as she gripped her hands around the gurney under her. "I bet she's tired," Monica affirmed, then she cocked her head to the side and stared straight in front of her and added in a soft voice full of a longing she couldn't hide. "Frank and Alice are over the moon. They have their family."

Chandler studied her profile, feeling the tears forming on her lashes tugging at his heart, thinking about those papers hidden on her kitchen counter back at the apartment.

Finally, he nodded and whispered, "yeah."

Monica turned and smiled up at him, instantly feeling guilty for the sad look on his adorable face. She shook her head, wondering what had she ever done to deserve a great friend like him. Here he sat as she cried on his shoulder. Again. Well, she thought, that was enough of that. She cleared her throat once more and bounced off the gurney.

"I guess it's probably time to go home," she said, putting her hands in her pockets and blinking rapidly. "Everyone needs their sleep."

Chandler furrowed his brow, his heart thundering in his ears, his mind anything but clear as he looked at the pain he could tell she was trying so hard to fight out of her eyes.

She smiled and started to walk back down the hall to the elevators, assuming he was following her.

"Hey, Mon?" she heard him say. She turned and saw he was still sitting on the gurney with a strange look on his face. She raised her eyebrows and he took a deep breath.

"OK," he said, letting his breath out slowly as a fine sheen of sweat broke across his forehead. "Let's do it."

"Do what?" she asked, confused.

He sucked in another batch of air.

"A baby," he said in as clear a voice as he could muster. "Let's have a baby."


	3. Chapter 3

"What did you just say?" she asked slowly, dumbstruck look on her face. There was no way in the world he'd just said what she thought he did.

"You heard me," he said with what he hoped passed for a confident nod.

"A baby?" she asked, incredulous, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him.

"Yeah," he said, crossing his arms in front of him. "A baby."

Monica crossed her own arms and shook her head, disbelief written all over her face. Chandler held his breath. When she finally looked at him again he could see she was angry.

"You know you shouldn't joke about it," her voice betraying her hurt under the anger. "You…you're the only one I've…I've told how I feel about this. It just…it isn't nice for you to…"

"Who says I'm joking?" he said, hopping off the gurney.

"What?!" she asked, her voice squeaking, her bright eyes wide as he held her gaze steady with his. "You…Chandler! You're joking."

"I'm not joking," he said.

"You're serious?"

"Serious as a heart attack," he said, glancing around and grinning at her, "and I guess if that were to happen here…"

"See, I knew you were joking," she said, somewhat relieved. The grin quickly fell from his face. He looked down, skimming the sole of his shoe lightly over the floor as his one foot crossed in front of the other.

"No, look, I'm not joking, OK?" he said, finally looking her directly in the eye. "I'm not."

"Wha…what?" she started in a whisper, her heart starting to pound in her ears. He really didn't appear to be joking. There was no teasing look on his face.

Chandler swallowed hard and shrugged as he buried his hands in his pockets, looking at her expectantly.

"Then you have lost your mind," Monica finally said once she'd finally found her voice again. He gave her an exasperated look.

"Chandler, that's crazy, OK? It's crazy," she said, putting her hand on his arm.

He shrugged and looked away, twisting his body away from her as her hand fell off his arm.

"Yeah, sure, having _my_ baby would be crazy," he said in that self-deprecating way he did when he was trying not to sound hurt.

"No, no! Chandler, that's not what I meant," she said quickly, grabbing hold of his arm again. "It _is_ crazy and…sweet. very, very sweet. OK? I mean, come on, you offered to be my boyfriend when I didn't have one and…and now you're offering to be my, ah, baby daddy…"

"Baby daddy," he said looking at her again with a little grin, which made her visibly relax. She grinned back.

"Look, I know I've cried on your shoulder a lot lately…"

"You have," he nodded as he started rambling, gesturing with his hands to try to make his point, "and that's why…ya know…if I can make it better…"

"You are the sweetest friend in the world," she said, smiling at him now and grabbing his hands in hers to still his movements. Then she raised one hand to cup his cheek, "but you can't make this better, Chandler, you just can't. I have to…I'm just going to have to…be patient."

"That's your strong suit," he said with a smirk. "Patience."

She smirked back at him then rolled her eyes. "Besides, Chandler, you don't want a baby."

"No, you do," he said, then sighed. "Listen, Mon, when I was at the apartment earlier, I…ahh…"

"What?" she said, stepping back from him and furrowing her brow. He looked a little sheepishly at her.

"I was looking for a…a pen and I, um, I saw those forms," he said quietly as a blush rose in her cheeks, "from the sperm bank."

"Oh," she said, her face burning now. She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, her eyes blazing at him.

"Look, I didn't mean to find anything _other_ than a pen, but I saw them and I…" he started, trying to stem the rising fury in eyes. "I'm not judging you here, OK? I'm not. I'm just…you deserve better. You…you don't even know who these guys are really and, Mon, I know you wanna have a kid, but you deserve better than a…a guy that just looks good on paper. I mean, maybe _I_ don't look so great on paper, but I've got sperm…"

"Chandler, stop. Just stop," she said, putting her palm up and letting out a deep sigh as her face cringed in confusion. "This is…it's not happening. I mean, are you…are you trying to sleep with me or something?"

"No!" he said quickly, seeing both the confusion and hurt flash across her face. "No! I'm…I could…I mean I could just, ya know, donate some of my best swimmers so you can, ya know, at least know the guy who…who…"

Monica searched his eyes as his shoulders cinched up and he sucked his lips into a thin line across his face. The sincerity she found in his baby blues made her heart skip and a fuzzy warmth spread throughout her body.

Her eyes widened in shock as he held his breath. Then she squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head in disbelief.

"I…I don't know what to say," she said in a whisper, her eyes filling with tears. "That is the single most incredible thing anyone has _ever_ offered me."

"Yeah?" he said, a small smile breaking across his face. "So, then, whatta ya say?" he asked, arms extended and palms flipped toward the ceiling. She place her hands in his and stood on her tip toes, gently brushing her lips across his cheek.

"No, Chandler," she said, blinking back tears. She blinked back more as his face fell just a touch and she backed away.

"Why not?" he said, feeling a tinge of relief as much as a surprising tinge of disappointment. "I can doctor up my resume a bit…"

He made her smile at that and she shook her head again.

"It's not that," she said with a sigh, grinning at him. "You'd be impressive on paper…"

"Well, sure, who wouldn't want sperm from a guy whose father is the star of his own burlesque drag show and a mother who is an erotic novelist?" he said, relaxing as she giggled. "That right there is a pedigree that sells itself."

"Oh, stop it," she said, smiling despite herself. "You're smart, funny, employed…tall, handsome…"

"Handsome?" Chandler said, blinking back in surprise.

"Yes, handsome!" she said, lightly punching his arm. "It's not you or your _sperm_. It's…it's us."

He looked at her in confusion.

"Us?"

"Yes us," she said, gesturing with her hands for emphasis. "You're Ross's best friend. You're my best friend. You live across the hall from me, and this…this is just a little more significant than borrowing a cup of milk from you! It's a lot more complicated than that."

"When do I _ever_ have milk?" he deadpanned.

"Chandler," she sighed. "Focus."

Chandler put his hands on his hips, cocking his head to the side as he pursed his lips.

"Look," she said, trying to get him to understand what she already knew. This was a huge, life-changing commitment she was thinking about and, whether he knew it or not, that would be the case for him as well. "We have this great relationship, OK? But we aren't dating. We aren't in love. It's just one big, amazing favor you'd be doing for me, but a baby, a child is more than that. It will have a much greater impact than that - on both of us."

Chandler looked away a moment then closed his eyes. Monica gently put her hands on his shoulders and continued.

"What if someday the baby wants to know who his father is. I mean, how would we explain that? How would we explain this to our friends?" she asked.

"I really don't care what they think," he said, looking down into her eyes. Then he shrugged. "Well, maybe Ross…"

She grinned a sad grin at him.

"Chandler?" she said softly, hoping she'd gotten through to him. Chandler sighed and, somewhat reluctantly, nodded in agreement.

She was right. He knew she was right. He wasn't thinking that far ahead. He was thinking of solving the immediate problem of making her happy, of doing something seemingly small to help her if he could. He wasn't really thinking beyond that, and as usual, Monica was.

"OK," he said, finally looking at her again. "I get it. I do."

"OK," she said, relieved he'd listened to her. She put a hand to his cheek once again and grinned at him. He grinned back then pulled her against him for a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and sighed into his shirt. He kissed her hair and cleared his throat as she tightened her arms around him and breathed in deeply.

"But, if you change your mind," he said softly. "The offer still stands. Now or 10 years from now."

"Chandler…" she sighed, ready to pull away and reiterate what she'd already said to him, but suddenly his arms were stronger than she'd given him credit for and he held her in place. She melted back into his chest, but her eyes were wide open and pinched together in confusion as she bit her bottom lip between her teeth.

"There you are," Ross said from down the hall, quickly making his way toward them. Monica took a quick step back, clearing her throat as Chandler released her and swiftly shoved his hands deep into his pockets, turning towards Ross.

"Yep, found us," he said, stealing a side-glance at a teary Monica.

"Joey's looking for you," he said looking from Chandler to Monica. "Everything OK?"

"Yeah. Yes," Monica said thickly, nodding her head and wiping her eyes with her fingertips. "Big day. Very emotional. Babies being born and all."

She waved her hand at Ross and smiled.

"Yeah, it really was," he said with a grin, stepping over to hug his sister. A sympathetic smile passed between him and Chandler.

"What does Joey need?" Chandler asked.

"Oh, yeah!" he said. "He's gonna be here overnight and he wanted to know if you could get together a few things from home…"

"Oh, yeah, sure, yeah," Chandler said, nodding his head. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Rachel's headed back to the apartment, Mon," Ross said with a nod. "She's saying goodbye to Phoebe now."

"Oh, OK, yeah, we should say 'goodbye' too," she said, looking to Chandler, who nodded.

Ross turned toward the elevator, Chandler and Monica close behind. He glanced over at her as they walked, finding her looking back at him. He grinned and she grinned too while she wrapped an arm around his waist. She squeezed him and he smiled, throwing his arm over her shoulder as they made their way down the hall.

###

Monica jerked awake as the glass of Merlot she'd been holding slipped out of her hands, the last few remaining drops of wine landing on the papers in her lap.

"Damn!" she said softly as she quickly grabbed a napkin from the coffee table and dabbed at the sperm bank form now streaked with maroon spots.

She placed the wine glass and the used napkin on the coffee table and sighed, shuffling the papers into a pile once again. When they'd come back to the apartment Rachel went directly to bed giving Monica plenty of time to pour over her apparently not-so-secret stash of sperm donors - all of whom seemed to suddenly pale in comparison to the one across the hall.

Monica laid the papers on the coffee table and leaned back against the back of the couch, pinching the top of her nose with her finger and thumb. She still couldn't believe it. Was he serious? Would Chandler really be her sperm donor?

She knew everything she'd told him at the hospital was true. It was complicated. It was life-changing. It would alter their relationship forever. It was flat-out crazy. Logically, she knew that.

Then there was that small, nagging part of her that thought it just might work. They had a strong friendship. He'd never broken an important promise he'd ever made to her. He was smart and, yes, handsome. And even if he was never involved in more than the sperm donation itself, Monica knew her child would grow up having his or her father in their life. She knew in her heart that when the time came, Chandler would have a relationship with his child. His heart was too big not to. Hadn't she seen plenty of evidence of that alone in his offer?

Monica opened her eyes and glanced at the stack of candidates on the table. Chandler was right. She didn't really know any of them. But if she was going to go through with it, and she still wasn't at all sure that she was, would it be better to know or not to know? Of that she wasn't sure, but the more she'd thought about it, the more she was leaning toward the knowing.

Monica jerked her head around as she heard the apartment door shut across the hall. Then she looked straight ahead, took a deep breath and stood up.

Across the hall Chandler flipped on his living room light, grabbed a beer out of the fridge and plopped down in his chair, his head swimming.

He'd gone over to drop off the items Joey needed for the night. His roommate was obviously feeling much better and having Baywatch on certainly helped. Chandler had settled in to watch the episode with him, but he really hadn't been able to focus much on the scantily-clad actresses on the beach.

He sighed as he turned on the TV, smiling a little as he found Die Hard playing on a cable station. As he stared at Jon McClain shooting up Russian bad guys his mind returned to Monica. He ran his palm over his chin and took a sip of his beer.

All night he'd been trying to talk himself out of the disappointment he felt at her rejection. It wasn't that he didn't understand her reasoning. He did. It wasn't that she was wrong about his interest in fatherhood. She wasn't. Up until that night at the hospital he'd really had no interest in it whatsoever.

But there was something nagging at him anyway and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He knew he should really be relieved. He'd offered like the good friend he was, she'd politely said "no" and that should be that, they'd go on with their lives. But for some reason that is not how he felt. At least it wasn't how he was feeling at the moment…

"Chandler?"

He spun around in his barcalounger, having been so lost in thought that he hadn't heard his door open.

"Mon?" he said, swallowing hard. "Hey, what's up?"

Monica nodded toward the TV. "Die Hard?"

"You know it," he said, nodding toward the other barcalounger. "Have a seat. Wanna beer?"

She nodded and sat down while he went to retrieve her beverage.

"Thanks," she said as he sank back into his chair. "How's Joey?"

"Oh, he's fine," Chandler said with a wave of his hand. "A Baywatch marathon was on, so…"

"Ah," Monica said with a grin. Then she sipped her beer as Chandler looked sideways at her while she stared at the TV screen. After a couple moments she cleared her throat.

"I've been thinking…" she started quietly, still looking at the TV screen. He cocked his eyebrow curiously at her.

"If we did this, and I'm not saying I'm sure I _want_ to," she stressed quickly, her voice shaking just a touch. "I'm just saying _if_ we did this how…how would it work, exactly?"

He wanted to pretend he didn't know what she was talking about, but decided against joking. Instead he took a long swig of his beer.

Monica waited, somewhat impatiently, for him to respond. Her heart was pounding and she still couldn't look at him. She closed her eyes as he sighed, suddenly feeling herself bracing for disappointment.

"I guess I don't know exactly how it would work," he said honestly. "We could…I guess, we'd have to start at the sperm clinic and see if it's even possible, then, I dunno, maybe a lawyer?"

He shrugged as Monica glanced over at him. Chandler took another sip, the tension in the room seeming to rise with each passing second.

"So, you…" she started, beads of sweat beginning to form on her forehead, "you would _really_ do this for me, Chandler? Really?"

She sucked in her breath as their eyes met. She looked so earnest, so vulnerable he wasn't sure he could tell her "no" even if he wanted to.

And he didn't want to.

"Yeah," he said with a little smile, "but only if you really…if this is what you really, really want, Monica."

She held his gaze a moment then nodded.

"Yes, OK," she said as she let out the breath she was holding. "Why don't we, ah, both sleep on it and…and we can go from there?"

Chandler nodded, too. "That sounds like a good idea."

"OK," she said again, her nervousness very apparent now. She took a deep breath once more and gave him a little smile. He smiled back, his heart thundering in his ears.

"Well," she said standing, and clearing her throat. "I'll leave you and Bruce Willis alone, then."

"'K," he said as he stood, too, and held her gaze with his, a steadiness passing between them despite the doubts that clouded each of their minds. Finally he grinned and pulled her to him. She fell against him and clung to his back.

"Good night, Chandler," she said after a moment, then added in a whisper, "thank you for even…"

"It's OK, Mon," he said, suddenly feeling like everything was a little too intimate, despite the topic of conversation that had just taken place. He stepped back.

"Go get some sleep," he nodded toward the door. "The movie is getting to the good part."

She grinned and shook her head, but then moved toward the door.

"Night, Mon," he said as he sat back in his chair.

"Night," she said with a wave as she walked out the door.

Chandler stared at the screen for another minute and tried to concentrate on the movie, but it was a lost cause.

He picked up the remote and turned down the sound, then stood and walked over to where his laptop was sitting on the kitchen counter. He opened it, the screen lighting up his face as he settled in on a stool and typed in his password.

He furrowed his brow in concentration as he searched "private sperm donation," running his hand through his hair then over his chin as he sighed heavily and waited for the results he wasn't completely sure he was ready to find.

 _ **NOTE: Thank you so very much for your reviews. I warned you updates would be slow in coming, but thanks for loving them whenever they do. :)**_


	4. Chapter 4

Chandler ran his hand down his tie, shifting in the surprisingly uncomfortable chairs in the small area outside the lawyer's office.

He told himself it was the chair, and not the huge undertaking he and Monica were about to embark on, making him uncomfortable. Nevertheless he could feel little beads of sweat breaking out along his temple that he couldn't blame on the chairs in the cool, air-conditioned office.

He picked up a copy of Forbes magazine sitting on the small coffee table in the front of him, flipping through all the pages then throwing it back down again without having a clue what he'd just tried to read. He glanced at his watch as the door from the hallway opened and in walked Monica.

"Hey," she said, somewhat surprised to find him already in the waiting room. "You're early?"

"I can be early sometimes, " he said, instantly relaxing at the smile on her face as he stood up and thrust his hands in his pockets. "At least once in a while. I mean occasionally…OK, I mean once…"

"I get it, Chandler," Monica said with a slight eye roll as she sat down and he sat again next to her. He gestured toward the door.

"The secretary said he'd be ready in about 10 minutes," he said. "She, apparently, is on a 9-and -a-half minute smoke break."

"Ah," Monica said, grinning at him. "So, did your meeting at work end early?"

"It was cancelled," he said with a nod. "That's how I ended up here early."

"Ah," she said again, swallowing hard. "I knew there had to be a logical explanation."

He smirked at her then folded his hands in front of him, both of them staring straight ahead, neither sure what to talk about besides the elephant in the room. Finally, Monica sighed.

"I'm really happy we decided to not tell everyone about this," she finally said with a heavy exhale. "It's already nerve-wracking enough."

"Tell me about it," he said with a nervous chuckle, running a hand through his hair. She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Hey, you said it! I mean it's exciting, too, of course, but yeah, nerve-wracking," he said quickly, glancing at her. "I mean, it's enough to deal with without…without interference."

"Exactly," she nodded. "One step at a time, right?"

"One step at a time," he nodded, remembering the discussion they'd had a few days ago, after she decided that accepting Chandler's offer was what she wanted to do.

He'd already found a family attorney through a colleague at work, much to Monica's relief. That one gesture alone had proved to her that he was taking all of this as seriously as she was. She'd already talked to the sperm bank. The clinic was able to perform the procedure, just as they had been before, with a private donor. The next step in that process was for Chandler to be tested, if all went well today at the attorney's office.

Both of their heads shot up as the secretary came through the door and briefly introduced herself to Monica before poking her head in her boss's office.

"He's ready for you now," she smiled, opening the door for them. Monica and Chandler quickly looked at one another before standing up and walking in.

"Mr. Bing," the middle-aged man with gray at his temples said as he stretched out a hand to Chandler, then extended a handshake to Monica.  
"Ms. Geller. I'm Christopher Boland, nice to meet you."

"You too, Mr. Boland," Monica said, as all three of them took a seat on the high mahogany, leather chairs in his office. Christopher waved his hand.

"Please, call me Chris," he said.

"Monica," she said nodding, then she glanced at Chandler.

"Yes, ah, Rusty, you can call me Rusty," he said with a little grin and Monica grimaced. Chris let out a little, confused laugh, looking back and forth between them as Monica gave Chandler a death stare. Chandler cleared his throat.

"Sorry," he said, somewhat sheepishly. "I tend to make jokes when I'm nervous. I meant to say call me Chandler."

"I see," Chris said, nodding his head a little as he glanced at the papers sitting on his desk. "So, I understand we are working on an agreement for a private sperm donation, is that correct?"

"Yes," Monica said as Chandler nodded.

"Very good," he said, putting on his glasses and picking up a pen. "I have a series of questions to ask you. Some are going to be very easy, and some a little harder, but it will help us come up with the right agreement for the two of you. Every situation is unique. Are you ready?"

Both of them nodded, then Chris looked at Chandler.

"So, I assume you're the mother?" he said in all seriousness. Chandler's jaw dropped. He looked over at an equally confused Monica before responding, flustered.

"I, ah…what? Wh…what would make you say…ah, what?" he said, both instantly defensive and completely confused. Chris chuckled.

"I joke, too, when people are nervous," he said with a wink as Chandler relaxed back into his seat and Monica let out a relieved giggle.

"Now, relax," Chris said. "This is just paperwork. The big stuff comes after you leave this office."

For the next 10 minutes the three went through a multitude of questions, everything from their social security numbers to their medical history. He asked them about where they lived and how they knew each other, all of them very much relaxing into the conversation...

"I called her fat and she cut off my toe," Chandler deadpanned.

"It was just the tip," Monica said with a smile, elbowing Chandler in the arm.

"Sounds like the typical beginning of all solid relationships," Chris said, with a chuckle.

"Oh, definitely," Chandler said, with a nod. "She also threw a plate at me once and I had to get stiches."

"I really don't think he needed to know that," Monica said, her face turning pink. Chris full-out laughed at that as Chandler put a hand around her shoulders.

"It's all good," he said as she rolled her eyes at him. Chris looked back and forth between the two of them again and cocked his head to the side, clearing his throat. He put down his pen.

"OK, before we get to the next set of questions I…and this is none of my business and I shouldn't ask but…you two are really adorable together. Ever, ah, thought of doing this the old-fashioned way?"

Chandler quickly pulled his arm away from her shoulder as Monica gasped a little, then let out a nervous giggle.

"Whoa…that's a good one," Chandler said with a somewhat forced laugh, though his heart was pounding heavily in his chest. "I see what you're doing there…"

"Oh, yeah," Monica said with a equally forced laugh, feeling her face turn beat red. "Trying to…to ease us into the next set of questions. Good move, Chris. That's…that's a good one!"

All three chuckled a bit, trying to push past the awkward moment, though Chris had actually been dead serious about his question. Monica stole a quick glance at Chandler, who was looking down at his hands, which were now folded on his lap. She turned her attention to the paperweight on the lawyer's desk just as Chandler glanced briefly in her direction.

Chris saw the little glances and shook his head ever so slightly. 'You can lead a horse to water,' he thought wryly as he picked up his pen again.

"OK," he said, taking a deep breath. "These questions will take a little more thought…these are questions about your responsibilities before and, if any, after a successful conception, Chandler."

"OK," Chandler said, sitting up straighter in the chair.

"Your only responsibility under law is to be tested for fertility and sperm health, being truthful to the best of your knowledge of your own physical condition, and safely making your donation at the sperm clinic with intention to inseminate Monica Geller."

"That's…sexy," Chandler deadpanned. Monica put a hand to her forehand and shook her head. Chris grinned.

"Not at all, but you do understand your responsibility under the law?"

"Yes."

"OK. Next is a list of negotiable additions to the agreement," Chris said. "First, agreed upon payment for said sperm?"

"Payment?" Chandler said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yes, how much should Monica pay for your sperm?"

"Ah, that would be zero," Chandler said, after a moment.

"Zero?" Monica and Chris both said at the same time. Chandler turned to Monica, this question never once crossing his mind.

"Hey, it's not like you're getting Grade A beef, here…"

"Chandler…"

"Zero," he said with a nod. "That's it. I'm not going to ask you to…no."

"Are you completely sure?" she asked. "Chandler, I was ready to pay…"

"Mon, the answer is no. Zero," he said, being surprisingly definitive, turning back to the attorney. "Next question, Chris." Monica turned to Chris and swallowed hard.

"OK," he said. "Cost of insemination?"

"Oh, that's on me," Monica said quickly, sitting up straight and nodding. "I had already planned on it. I mean originally, when I was thinking of this before Chandler even offered I…I had planned to cover the cost, all the cost on my own. Insemination, medical care, all of that."

She nodded as Chandler squirmed in his chair, glancing at her.

"We can split it," he offered.

"Chandler, no," she said with a heavy sigh. "You are already charging me nothing…"

"I can make sperm for free, ya know," he said with just enough of a grin that she relaxed a little.

"Chandler," she said softly. "This is my decision, remember? I'm not going to have you pay for something that is ultimately my responsibility."

He felt his chest constrict just a bit at her words. Ultimately her responsibility. Having this baby, raising this child was going to "ultimately be her responsibility." She was right, but for some reason it didn't feel right to him, but she was looking at him earnestly and after a moment, he nodded.

"OK," he said softly.

Chris hesitated before reading the next question.

"Chandler," he said, clearing his throat. "As a sperm donor your responsibilities technically end when a successful conception is achieved."

"Which means?" he asked, his heart beginning to pound harder as he anticipated the answer.

"Which means, you're done," Chris said. "You have fulfilled your role and, at that point you can legally walk away from the situation, if that's what you want and what Monica wants."

"Oh," he said, feeling like the wind got knocked out of him.

Suddenly tears stung Monica's eyes as she looked over at her friend. He looked back at her, mouth agape, seeing the tears in her eyes she was attempting to blink away. He just wasn't sure what those tears meant.

"What…what do you want?" he asked quietly. She shook her head and swallowed hard, closing her eyes for a moment.

"It's up to you," she said just as softly. "I…I never expected that you would be responsible for anything beyond…but it's up to you whether or not you want to be more involved, or…"

Chandler glanced at Chris, who was watching them curiously, and let out a deep breath.

"What are my options?" Chandler asked, casting another glance at Monica. "Legally, I mean."

"Well, you have a few options," Chris explained. "You can be an anonymous donor, abdicating your parental responsibility and giving up all parental rights to the child…"

"So the…Monica's…the baby would never know who the father was?" Chandler clarified.

"That's right," Chris nodded. Chandler pursed his lips.

"I…I don't want that," Monica said, finding her voice in her suddenly dry throat. "If…if that's what I wanted I would have gone with an anonymous donor in the first place."

She turned to Chandler and gently smiled at him, taking a deep breath and laying a hand on his arm.

"I want my baby to know you are his or her father," she said softly.

Chandler's heart slammed against his chest as he grinned at her, placing his hand over hers. Monica's smile deepened as Chris cleared his throat.

"So, I suppose the next option, sealing the identity of the sperm donor until the child turns 18, is out of the question, too?" he asked. Chandler tore his eyes from Monica's and looked at the attorney.

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, this is…we're really close friends, obviously, and we…we live across the hall from each other. That'd be a pretty big secret to keep and I…"

Chandler paused, seemingly unsure what to say next, but clearly having something more on his mind. Monica ran her hand, which was now resting uncovered on his arm, down to his hand and threaded their fingers together. She gently squeezed his hand, urging him to continue. Chandler gently squeezed her back then cleared his throat.

"My Dad…he was, ah, in and out of my life a lot when I was growing up and I…I never really felt like I knew him. Still don't, really," he said quietly. "I just…whatever the circumstances are I…I don't want Mon's baby to not know who I am if he wants to know. Ya know?"

Monica looked at him, tears in her eyes once again, as a realization suddenly hit her. Those are exactly the words she wanted to hear, and somehow knew she _would_ hear from him. She very much wanted him to be a part of her baby's life, a big part, and he wanted that, too. She felt a fullness in her chest she hadn't felt in a long time, and she beamed at Chris.

"OK," Chris nodded, a knowing smirk on his face. "It'll be an open sperm donation then. If that's what you both want."

"I do," Monica said quickly through her smile as Chandler nodded. "I do, but what does that mean, exactly?"

"It will be up to you to let your child know who his father is and," he nodded to Chandler, "he is willing to be acknowledged as that child's biological father. However, this agreement makes it clear that this is _your_ baby Monica. There is no custody arrangement. No shared custody or shared parenting, legally. He owes no child support. In turn, Chandler, you have no rights to custody or even input when it comes to making decisions for the child. That is outside the realm of your responsibility, as far as this agreement is concerned. This agreement simply states that the sperm donor and recipient agree that the father's identity can be known at any time deemed appropriate by both parties before he or she is 18. It makes no reference to how involved the donor is in the child's life, only that he or she exists and is willing to be contacted."

After a moment, Chandler deadpanned, "So, basically, she'll have to pay me to babysit?"

Chris smiled and shook his head.

"Like I'll let you babysit," Monica shot back with a grin. Chris chuckled.

"Yeah, something like that," he said, shaking his head once again.

 _ **NOTE: No, I haven't fallen out of orbit with the fanfiction universe completely, and I really appreciate you for sticking with this one. :)**_


	5. Chapter 5

"They've started calling her 'Chandy,'" Phoebe said with a grin. "Ya know, like 'Candy' with an 'h.'"

"Oh, that's adorable," Rachel said as she poured coffee and handed over the coffee pot to Ross with a sweet smile. "They're really sticking with 'Chandler' for her name?"

"I guess so," Phoebe said with a shrug as the door to apartment 20 opened and Joey waltzed in.

"Do I smell bacon, eggs _and_ waffles?" he said with glee as he quickly took a seat. "What's the occasion, Mon? It's not even the weekend."

Monica smirked at him as she brought over a plate piled high with breakfast food and placed it in front of him. She stifled a giggle as he practically licked his lips in anticipation.

"As if you don't eat like this every day," she said with an eye roll as she patted him on the shoulder. She glanced at the now closed front door and cleared her throat. "So, ah, where's your roommate?"

"On...the...phone," Joey managed to say between forkfuls.

"Oh," Monica said, taking the towel from her shoulders and nervously running the edges of it through her fingers. "Anything important?"

Joey looked at her quizzically then shrugged. "I dunno. Why?"

"No reason," Monica said as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and turned back toward the stove, trying to make herself look busy. "I was just, ah, curious. That's all. He usually doesn't get phone calls this early, does he?"

Joey shrugged again.

"Why do you care," Ross asked, as Phoebe and Rachel each shot Monica a confused look, both obviously thinking the same thing. Monica swallowed hard. She knew Chandler had gone to the sperm clinic to be tested two days earlier. They were each anticipating the results, but she couldn't exactly say that to the four sets of expectant eyes now looking at her.

"What?" she said with an exaggerated chuckle. "I'm just...I'm not going to keep his food warm forever, ya know."

She turned back to the stove then and was relieved when the conversation turned back to the usual morning chatter for the next few minutes.

Monica had thought Chandler must have already left for work when he suddenly walked through the door.

"Hello, children," he said joyfully, closely eyeing what was left of the food on the kitchen table and Joey's continuously full plate. "Geez, Joe, did you save any for the rest of us."

"Hey, you snooze you lose, man," Joey said.

"I wasn't 'snoozing,'" Chandler said as he leaned up against the counter and crossed his arms. He glanced at Monica, who now had her back to him.

"You can sit here, Chandy," Rachel said with a smirk. "I gotta get going."

"Chandy?" Chandler asked in mild disgust.

"Phoebe will explain it to you," Rachel said with a wave of her hand as she grabbed her purse. "Bye, guys."

"Have a good day," Phoebe called as she grabbed another waffle, prompting Joey to grab two more.

"Joe?!" Chandler said.

"Oh, don't worry, I saved a plate for you," Monica said, bringing Chandler's breakfast to him. "You're lucky it didn't get cold."

"Thanks, Mon," he said, grinning at her. She grinned back, but held his gaze just a touch longer than normal. Finally, she lifted a questioning eyebrow at him. He winked at her and nodded, but said nothing as he picked up his fork.

Monica heart started to race as she moved to pour herself another cup of coffee. She glared at Joey, Ross and Phoebe through the steam at the top of her mug as she held it to her lips. Wasn't it time for them all the leave? She wanted to know exactly what that wink and nod meant.

As she took a sip of her coffee she glanced at Chandler and smiled to herself. She had to admit that keeping the whole sperm donation plan a secret between them had been kind of fun. He was much smoother than she thought he'd be, never giving off even the smallest hint that the two of them were potentially taking on such a huge undertaking.

"So, what's with 'Chandy?" Chandler asked Phoebe.

"That's what Frank and Alice are calling Baby Girl Chandler," Phoebe said. "It suits her."

She paused, studying Chandler for a moment.

"As a matter of fact, it suits y..," she started.

"It does not!" Chandler exclaimed, then put up his hand as Phoebe opened her mouth again. "No, look, that is not going to be some new nickname."

Phoebe smirked at him.

"You're no fun this morning," she said as she rose from the table. "Thanks, Mon. I gotta run."

"Bye, Pheebs," Monica said with a wave as Phoebe headed out the door. She took her seat at the table next to Chandler.

"You know what nickname I always wanted?" Ross mused aloud. When nobody asked, he continued, "The Ross-a-tron."

"Pfft," Monica said with a wave of her hand. "It wasn't cool in junior high and it isn't cool now."

"Uh huh," Ross said, in a somewhat whiney voice as he stood up and grabbed his briefcase from the couch. "We should try it out. It might work."

"Humm," Monica said as she smirked at her brother over her coffee mug. "We could always go back to Bea."

"Bea?" Joey asked, with an amused look on his face.

"Monica!" Ross said, pointing at his giggling sister as he moved toward the front door to leave. Chandler chuckled too as Ross glared at them then quickly left the apartment. Chandler took a bite of his waffle then gave Monica a meaningful look, which caused her to shift her weight in her seat and throw daggers with her eyes in Joey's direction. Chandler cleared his throat and looked at his roommate.

"Uh, Joe?"

Joey, whose focus had turned back to finishing his breakfast, slowly gave Chandler a confused look.

"Don't you have an audition at, like, 8:45?" he asked, glancing at his watch.

Joey's eyes grew wide. "What time is it?!"

"8:30."

"8:30?!" he panicked as he grabbed another waffle and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling a goodbye as he ran out the door.

Chandler chuckled then stuffed his mouth full of food again. Monica, who was barely holding it together, stole his plate out from under his empty fork.

"Hey!"

"OK, so...who was on the phone?" she asked in a rushed, squeaky voice, still holding his plate in mid-air. "Was it the clinic?"

"I'll tell you if you give me my food back." he said, trying to hide a grin.

"I gave you this food, mister, I can take it away!"

"OK, yes, it was the clinic," he said, his heart pounding faster at the look that immediately flashed over Monica's features, a mix of anxious anticipation and tremendous curiosity.

She slowly sat the plate in front of him as her hands started to shake.

"And?" she asked softly.

"And," he said, fully smiling now. "It turns out, I have 'Super Sperm.'"

"'Super sperm?'" she said blinking in surprise, exhaling a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Yeah," he said, with obvious pride. "Apparently, I have a plethora of viable product."

Monica rolled her eyes, then looked down, blushing a little. He grinned an impish grin, scrambled eggs at the corner of his mouth. She shook her head and stifled a giggle. He leaned over and she gave him a napkin.

"You have no idea how much I wanted to tell Joey," he said, as he wiped his mouth. "Who's the apartment stud now?"

"Um, still doesn't mean you're getting more sex," she said, confused look on her face.

"No," he said, pointing a finger at her seriously, "but sex with me would be more productive."

Monica raised her eyebrows at him.

"So," he said with a head nod, chest puffed out with male pride. "We are good to go."

She looked at him like he had two heads and Chandler replayed what he'd just said over in his mind then turned red himself.

"I mean, move forward with...with the plan," he said, completely flustered. "With, ah, ah...the insemination. Not, ya know, 'good to go' ya know, have sex with each other. I…"

Monica burst out laughing and he glared at her, stabbing at his eggs.

"I knew what you meant, but that was fun," she said, with a grin.

Chandler grunted. Then suddenly they were both quiet as it started to sink in exactly what the news from the clinic actually meant. They were both fertile. This time next month she could be pregnant, Monica thought.

Monica stole a glance at Chandler, who all of a sudden was very focused on finishing his breakfast. She sighed as he took a drink of his coffee. She swallowed hard.

"So…" she started. "I guess that means we...we can do this…"

Monica started twisting a napkin on the table, looking at him pensively. He nodded, trying to give her a little smile. She tried to smile back, but the gravity of the situation was obviously weighing the corners of her mouth down. Chandler furrowed his brow. Slowly he put his coffee mug down and pushed aside a couple dishes, taking her hand in his.

"Yeah," he said softly, lifting his eyes to her face. She wasn't looking at him now, and she was gnawing on her lower lip.

"It's all set," he continued. "The paperwork is filed. The medical stuff is taken care of. The rest is...is up to you, Mon."

With that she finally lifted her head and looked into his eyes.

"Look," he said, squeezing her hand. "If you aren't ready for this, if you want to change your mind, I completely understand. I...I'll support you whichever way you want to go."

She put her hand over his, suddenly fighting back tears as a wave of feeling for him crashed over her.

"You are truly the best friend in the entire world," she whispered, smiling at him. "You know that?"

He grinned sheepishly at her and her heart melted just a little. Finally, she nodded and he smiled.

"So...we'll give it a shot?" he said, his stomach suddenly a basket of nerves. She smiled back and squeezed his hand.

"We'll give it a shot," she said, "and if, if it's meant to be it...it will happen."

He nodded. "And if not…"

"If not," she shrugged. "Then I guess your sperm isn't so super after all."

"Ouch," he said, pretending to be offended and letting go of her hand. She winked at him and picked up her coffee mug again. He glanced at his watch.

"I gotta get to work," he said, standing up. "I set up an appointment for tomorrow so they can, ah, collect what they need from me."

"Oh good, good," she said as she stood with him. "Yeah, I'll call today and schedule a time, um, too."

She scratched the back of her neck, looking down at the floor. When she looked up at him, he had a teasing look on his face.

"Or, ya know, we can just get this over with now," he said with a cheeky grin, nodding toward her bedroom.

"Yeah, in your wildest dreams!" she said with a smirk, slapping him on the arm. He chuckled and pulled her into his arms, giving her a friendly hug.

"Honestly, though, if you want me to be there for, ya know, I mean I can be," he said, patting her on the back. She giggled against his the breast of his suit jacket.

"I don't think you need to be there," she said, pulling back. "It only takes a couple minutes."

"Yeah, that's what she said," he deadpanned and Monica laughed, stepping out of his arms. He smiled and walked toward the door.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later," he said as he opened the door. "Bye, Mon."

"Bye," she waved, then began to clear the dishes from the table. When the door shut she stopped and stepped over to the couch, taking a couple deep breaths. Before she lost her nerve she picked up the phone and dialed her OBGYN.

"Hello, this is Monica Geller," she said, her voice quivering as her doctor's nurse finally answered. "Yes, hi, yes I'd like to make the appointment for my artificial insemination."

Monica's heart started to pound harder as she answered various questions about when in her cycle was the best time to perform the procedure and what time of day worked best for her.

It raced when the nurse asked the final question.

"The donor? Yes, he has been tested and has a donation appointment tomorrow at the clinic," she said, unable to fight the smile coming to her lips as she closed her eyes and said:

"His name is Chandler Bing."

 ** _NOTE: No, I haven't forgotten. :) This isn't long but I promised myself I'd have one update before the year was out. Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know ;) I HOPE to have this story finished in 2018 - I know, lofty goal, huh?!_**

 ** _Here's to a blessed new year for us all!_**


	6. Chapter 6

Chandler relentlessly tapped his pen on the pile of papers sitting in front of him, having spent the last half-hour vaguely trying to talk himself into reviewing the numbers and the data they would reveal. He sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair, again, before pushing the "call" button on his desk phone. He cleared his throat.

"Helen?" he asked. He could practically hear her eyes rolling on the other end of the line.

"Yes, Mr. Bing," she said in as monotone a voice as he'd ever heard.

"Um," he said, squeezing his eyes closed and briefly shaking his head. "I didn't happen to, ah, miss any calls, did I?"

Silence.

Chandler's eyes shifted back and forth across the room as he waited.

"Yes," his secretary finally said.

"Really?!" he asked, his heart beginning to pound.

"Yes," she deadpanned. "The Queen of England called a half hour ago."

Chandler sighed as he narrowed his eyes at the phone, knowing he deserved that retort. He'd asked her three times in the last hour if he'd missed any calls, even though he hadn't moved from the chair behind his desk that entire time.

"Helen!"

"Nobody has called, Mr. Bing," Helen said wearily. "Is there anything _else_ I can do for you?"

"No," Chandler shot back. "That'll be all. I mean, that's it...I...goodbye, Helen."

She hung up on him before he did, and Chandler slammed his elbow onto the pile of papers, dropping his head in his hands.

This was so weird.

He knew, by now, Monica could be pregnant with a baby that was half him and half her. Her appointment at the clinic was at 10:30. It was almost lunchtime and he hadn't heard a word from her. Though to be honest, he didn't have any idea what she would have to tell him anyway. She'd told him the whole procedure would last less than five minutes, and she wouldn't know if it worked for probably two weeks or more.

Still, he was anxious to know how it went and how she felt. He was anxious to know how she felt about the fact that she could actually be carrying his child, because up until now it hadn't felt like more than a plan on paper to him. A methodical, well-thought-out, Monica-approved plan.

He'd wanted to help her. She'd accepted his help. If all went according to that carefully drafted plan, she'd have her baby and he'd be able to watch him or her grow. It all sounded simple and logical enough in theory.

But now, all of a sudden, it all seemed a whole lot more real.

His nervous energy building, Chandler stood up from his desk and walked over to the window, beginning to open and close the blinds. When the buzzer on his phone tore through the room he practically lurched toward his desk.

"Yes?" he said, nearly breathless.

"Monica Geller is here to see you," Helen said. Chandler let out a deep sigh of relief and smoothed down his tie.

"Send her in, please!" he said, quickly. Then he crossed his arms and half-sat on the front edge of his desk as he waited for her to come in.

"Hey," she said with a small smile as she came through the door and closed it behind her.

"Hey," he said back, watching her closely. She twisted her purse strap in one hand and squinted out his office window, before turning to him and clearing her throat, but saying nothing. He sighed and gestured to the chair opposite his desk. She mumbled thanks and took a seat. Chandler watched and waited as Monica placed her purse beside her on the floor, crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap, looking up at him now with a bemused expression. Chandler rolled his eyes, slumping back now against his desk.

"So…?" he asked with barely concealed irritation. "Did it, ya know, go OK?"

"Yep, just fine," Monica sighed with a grin.

"Yeah?" he said, relieved.

"Yes," she said, smiling at him now. Chandler smiled back, relieved.

"How do you feel?" he asked. "Do you feel, um…"

"Pregnant?" she grinned. "No."

"Well, no, I mean, it's been, what, two hours?" he said, walking around his desk and sitting at the edge of the seat next to her as he gestured with his hands. "Of course you wouldn't feel, ya know, anything yet."

"Chandler," Monica said, furrowing her brow. "Are you OK?"

He sat up straighter, smoothing down his tie.

"Of course," he said.

"Really?" she asked, skeptical. "Because you seem a little, ya know, bouncy."

"I'm not...what?" he said and she smirked.

"I'm not 'bouncy'," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'm, just, ya know…"

"What?" she asked, confused.

"How can you be so calm?" he said, bouncing out of his chair. "What do you mean 'what?'" You...you know you could be pregnant _right now_?"

"I don't think I'm pregnant _right now_ ," she said. "It takes a little time to…"

"Monica!"

"Chandler?" she said, walking over to him, concern on her face as she stood in front of him. "Are you freaking out on me? _Now_?"

He sighed and dropped his head, hands on his hips. Out of the corner of his eye he could see her nervously twisting around a ring on her finger, the only outward sign of her own anxiety.

"Yeah, maybe a little bit," he admitted with a shrug. She grinned fondly at him.

"Remember, this was my idea," she said softly. "It's nothing _you_ have to freak out about."

"I know," he said, looking at her and nodding. "I know 'technically' it's nothing I have to freak out about but...but it's, ya know, you."

She blinked, stepping back and bitting her lip.

"You...you're, ya know, my best friend and I just...I want everything to be...OK," he said softly. She grinned, looking down briefly, then looking up again.

"It will be," she said soothingly. "Whether or not this works, I'll be fine."

"You're sure?" he said, running his hand down her arm.

"Yes," she said with a smile. He grinned at her, rubbing her arm up a moment before half sitting back on his desk.

"And nothing about any of this freaked you out?" he asked. "Even a little bit?"

She looked away a moment then sighed.

"Maybe a little bit," she finally admitted, looking out the window again. The truth was, she'd spent the last hour after her appointment walking around the city just thinking. She hadn't exactly been freaking out, but she had to get her head on straight before she talked to him. The whole procedure had taken less than five minutes. It had been quick and painless, but she had asked three times for the staff to make sure she was getting the right sperm. To make sure her baby would be his, too.

As Monica walked out of the clinic, it was hard to put into words what she was feeling. Physically, she was fine, but emotionally she wasn't sure. She knew she had a part of him living inside of her now, and it was surreal to her how real that suddenly felt. She could really be having his baby in the next 9 months. And that was the part that was, despite all the planning, hard for her to completely wrap her head around.

This was her idea and she was willing to take responsibility for everything that was to come. She didn't want to put any pressure on him, but she realized as she walked around, meandering subconsciously toward his building, that she wanted to talk to him. No, she _needed_ to talk to him. She didn't want to just call and let him know all had gone well. She realized she needed to see him, a need she didn't fully understand.

But the minute she walked into his office she'd instantly felt more relaxed. And, honestly, it made her feel better that he seemed as anxious to talk to her as she was to talk to him.

She looked back into Chandler's expectant face and grinned.

"Yeah, a little," she said as she shrugged, "but, it's done now."

Chandler nodded, as he furrowed his brow a little.

"So," he asked. "Now we wait?"

"Yep," she said. "Now we wait."

###

Two weeks later Monica took a deep breath as she paused outside Central Perk, shopping bags in both hands. Rachel, Phoebe and Chandler were sitting inside, but she was zeroed in on only one face as she pushed through the door.

"Hey, Mon," Phoebe greeted as she came through the door.

"Hey," Monica said quickly, not anxious to get caught up in whatever conversation was taking place. "Chandler, can you help me take these shopping bags up to my apartment."

"Owww, what'd you get?" Rachel said excitedly, beginning to stand up.

"No!" she said, a little more forcefully than she'd meant to. "I mean, ah, thanks, but they're kind of heavy."

She looked at Chandler and gestured to the outside. He furrowed his brow.

"Oh," Rachel said, sitting back down, not at all unhappy to get out of carrying heavy bags anywhere.

"And you want Chandler to help?" Phoebe said, with a smirk as Chandler rolled his eyes. He stood up and followed Monica outside. He took a brief look around.

"Where's the rest of them?" he asked, confused.

"The rest of what?" she said, handing him a bag to keep up the facade.

"The bags?" Chandler said, becoming a little agitated. "Hey, this is light. What's going on?"

Monica turned to him just before they entered their building, her wide eyes looking into his confused ones.

"I'm late," she said.

"For what?" he asked, oblivious.

"Chandler!" she said, repeating slowly. "I'm. Late."

For a moment or two they just stared at each other as time suddenly seemed to stand still. Then he sucked in his breath and finally blinked. She smiled at him.

"Oh my God," he breathed as he pulled open the door and ran up the stairs after her, two by two.


	7. Chapter 7

Rachel stepped quietly into the living room from her bedroom, her face registering concern as she slowly walked across to the closed bathroom door.

She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side as she heard the toilet flush. Then she heard Monica throwing up.

Rachel crossed her arms as the toilet flushed once again then hurriedly made her way out of their apartment, closing the door softly behind her.

Then she quickly knocked on the door to Apartment 19.

"Hey Rach," Joey said, yawning as he opened the door in his robe. "What are you doing here?"

"Where's Chandler?" she asked as she walked into the apartment.

"He's getting ready for work."

Rachel sat down on one of the stools, a worried look on her face.

"Whoa," Joey said, raising his eyebrows at the shadows clouding her features. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

Rachel sighed heavily.

"It's Monica…" she started as Chandler opened the door to his bedroom and stepped out in his suit and tie.

"Hello, children," he said in happy voice. "Hey, Rach, what are you doing over here before breakfast?"

"She's worried about Monica," Joey said, gesturing to Rachel, who just nodded in the affirmative.

Chandler swallowed hard, reaching for the barclounger behind him.

"Wh...why?" he stuttered, looking earnestly at Rachel as he sat down. "What's, um, wrong with Monica?"

Rachel stood then and pulled down on her short dress jacket, then started gesturing with her hands.

"OK," she breathed, trying to summon up the courage to say what she had been suspecting for a few days now. "OK. I...I think she's pregnant!"

"What?!" Joey exclaimed with a half-laugh as Chandler briefly squeezed his eyes closed.

"Listen," Rachel said. "I know it sounds crazy but...but she's thrown up every morning this week before breakfast and…"

"She has?" Chandler interrupted, furrowing his brow as he stood up.

"Maybe she's got a bug or something," Joey offered with a shrug.

"No, I don't think that's it," Rachel said, looking back and forth between the two. Chandler could barely breathe. He knew this day was going to come. He and Monica both did...

" _Chandler?" Monica called from the bathroom. They'd barely caught their breath after racing up the stairs when she immediately ran into the bathroom to pee on a stick. They'd set the timer for two of the slowest minutes ever recorded as they sat in relative silence at the kitchen table. She bit her nails as he shook his leg, tapping his foot quickly on the floor. He tried to ease the tension with a joke or two. Monica just glared at him._

 _When the timer went off they started at each other a couple moments before she hurried back into the bathroom. She'd been in there all of about 10 seconds but to Chandler it felt like an eternity. He'd paced from one end of the living room to the other when she called his name._

" _Yeah?" he said, hurrying back across the room and bracing his hands up against the doorframe. Her back was to him. Then she slowly turned around, a huge smile on her face._

" _You do have super sperm!" she shrieked, holding up the pregnancy test for him to see._

" _I do?" he said, initially blinking in shock before a smile broke across his face. "I knew it! Oh my God!"_

" _I know!" she shouted, giggling then staring at the test in her hand. She shook her head in disbelief._

" _I'm pregnant," she said in a whisper, her heart hammering in her chest. She looked up into Chandler's smiling face and beamed at him._

" _I'm really pregnant!"_

" _Yeah, ya are!" he yelped, and lamely enough, threw up his hand for a high-five. She didn't seem to mind, though, slapping his hand as they both continued to smile at one another, walking out of the bathroom._

" _It worked," he said, a tinge of awe in his voice now. "You really...I mean, you're really gonna have..."_

" _A baby," she breathed, as he watched her instinctively put her hand over her stomach. "I'm really going to have a baby."_

 _He shook his head, trying his best to keep his emotions in check. This was her deal, he told himself. This was going to be_ her _baby. He quickly remembered his sperm was only a means to an end as he looked at her smiling face._

" _You, my friend, are gonna have a baby," he said, his smile softening a little. "You, you're happy?"_

" _Yes," she said, breathless and fighting the urge to throw herself into his arms. Happy didn't begin to describe it. Overjoyed wasn't even close. She was euphoric and he was the reason why._

" _I...I can't," she said, then she shook her head, swallowing hard. "Thank you, Chandler. I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank you…"_

" _Oh, hey," he said, grinning a little, "just keep me alive when Ross finds out, OK?"_

 _Monica pursed her lips together and swallowed hard._

" _Mmmm," she said, nodding slowly. Chandler's face fell a moment before he recovered quickly._

" _I mean, if you want to tell him, them about me...um...this…" he said, fumbling over his words. "Of course, ya know, you don't have to say anything about_ me _. I...no one has to know anything. I mean, the kid doesn't even really have to know until it's 18...I…"_

" _Chandler," she said, grasping his arm, trying to calm him down. "Of course I'm going to tell everyone about you. You know one of the first questions any of our friends, or my brother, will ask is who I chose for the father."_

 _He shrugged, relaxing a little and grinned at her._

" _You don't have to," he said. She smiled._

" _But I will," she said, then sighed. "But...first I have to figure out when I want to tell everyone."_

 _He furrowed his eyebrows as she hugged herself._

" _Aren't you...you are_ happy _, right?" he said, sensing doubt in her as his heart began to race._

" _Yes, yes," she said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Yes, I want to shout it from the balcony."_

 _He chuckled._

" _No, I'm very comfortable with my decision to raise a baby on my own," she said with a nod. He opened his mouth to protest, to say she wouldn't be alone, but he stopped himself._

" _But, remember the last time I thought about artificial insemination?" she asked. "You were all supportive, but concerned and kind of thought I'd lost my mind…"_

 _She bit her lip, then looked up at him. "Well, not really you, but…" she said, trying to explain herself. He shook his head._

" _Mon," he said as he instinctively wrapped her into a hug. "You don't have to explain anything to me, or them…"_

 _He wrapped his hand around her hand, which was still holding firmly to the pregnancy test, and pulled it up between them. She grinned at him, her eyes watery as they looked into his._

" _Just enjoy this for a little while, OK?" he said with a grin. "It's finally happening for you. You're finally going to have a baby. Don't worry about the rest…"_

 _At that, she smiled again, then looked back at the test._

" _Yeah," she whispered, her voice thick. "Thanks."_

" _Sure," he said, hugging her again and placing a soft kiss in her hair with a smile..._

Chandler tried to pay attention to Rachel, but was finding it difficult. The last month had been a breeze. Things had been so normal that at times he even forgot Monica was pregnant. Sometimes he tried to purposefully forget she was pregnant with his baby because he felt like he should bear more responsibility than she wanted or needed him to. He was just trying to play it cool and be a good friend.

But now, knowing she was getting sick every morning suddenly brought it all back into focus. She was pregnant. For real.

"Right about the time Phoebe had the triplets Monica was looking at sperm banks again," Rachel said, shaking her head.

"Really?!" Joey asked in disbelief. "How do you know?"

"I saw the papers, applications, just like she had before," Rachel explained. "I think this time she went through with it!"

"Oh my God," Joey said.. "But, why? Why wouldn't she tell us?"

"I don't know," Rachel said, shaking her head. "Maybe she thought we wouldn't be supportive…"

"What do you think?" Joey suddenly asked turning to Chandler.

"I don't...I…" he started, not entirely sure what to say.

"I bet if we go over there now, she'll be just fine," Rachel said, pointing across the hall. "Like nothing happened at all. That's how she's been every morning."

"Then let's, let's go see how she is," Chandler suggested as nonchalantly as he could. Joey nodded and started walking toward the door clad only in his robe.

"Joe," Chandler said, exasperated. "Go put some clothes on."

"Oh, yeah, right," he said, somewhat sheepishly. Rachel smirked after him as he walked to his bedroom then turned to Chandler.

"I know I'm right," she said. "You'll see."

Chandler sucked in a deep breath but didn't respond as he opened the door to his apartment and followed Rachel into hers.

"Hey," Monica said with a smile, already scrambling eggs at the stove. "I wondered where you went."

She was talking to Rachel but glanced at Chandler, her smile failing just a little. He looked serious and white as a ghost.

Rachel gave Chandler a pointed look then turned back to Monica.

"Yeah, I, ah, I thought I left my earring over there last night, but I didn't," she said.

"OK…" Monica said, turning back to the stove.

"Mon?" Rachel asked, a little tentatively.

"Humm?"

"Are you feeling OK?" she asked.

Monica's eyes went wide and she looked over to Chandler, who wore a mild look of panic on his face but said nothing.

"Sure," she said with a shrug and a nervous little laugh. "Never better. Why?"

Rachel slumped her shoulders in defeat.

"Fine," she sighed heavily. "Chandler, your turn!"

They watched Rachel as she made her way back into her bedroom and closed the door.

"What was that all about?" Monica asked, confused. Chandler walked over to her and really looked at her. She looked a little pale, but not too out of the ordinary and her skin had a healthy sheen, almost like a glow. He blinked a couple times. Maybe it was just sweat, but to him she looked almost...luminous.

"You're getting sick? Morning sickness?" he asked, focusing again and trying to keep his voice low. Monica's eyes grew big as she glanced toward Rachel's door.

"Oh no…" she said, putting her hand over her mouth, putting two and two together. "She heard me?"

Chandler nodded and Monica briefly closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Chandler asked, much more concerned about her at that moment than Rachel having heard her in the bathroom. She looked up at him.

"Why would you need to know?" she asked. "It's perfectly normal."

"But...are you OK?" he asked. Monica swallowed hard as she saw the concern behind his bright blue eyes, trying hard not to lean on the comfort he was offering her. This was the complicated part she was so worried about and the baby hadn't even been born yet.

"I'm fine," she whispered as Chandler glanced behind his shoulder.

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "I...I get sick and it's over in a couple minutes and I feel fine the rest of the day."

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked again. "I would have…"

"What, Chandler?" she asked quickly and quietly when he hesitated to finish his thought. "What? Were you going to come over and hold my hair back?"

"Mon…"

"Look, this...this isn't your responsibility, OK?" she said, walking back over to the stove. "This isn't the part you signed up for, so don't...don't worry about it. I'm fine. I'll be fine."

Despite meaning every word she said, Monica couldn't help but feel the sadness that washed over her as she said those words to him, but she truly didn't want him to bear any more responsibility than what they had agreed to. She knew in the long run it would make everything easier.

She felt him come up behind her then turn and lean against the sink, crossing his arms in front of him. He wouldn't move until she looked at him.

"What?" she finally relented.

He gave her his lopsided grin.

"Look," he said. "Whether or not I had anything to do with your current situation, I'd still want to know if you were OK. OK?"

Her heart skipped a beat and she half-grinned, shifting her eyes away from his as her cheeks turned pink.

She nodded.

"OK," she said, grinning up at him.

"Hey," Joey said as he walked through the door. "So, Mon, you feeling OK?"

She took a deep breath and looked at Chandler, who did the same. Then she turned to Joey.

"Yeah, Joe, I'm fine."

"You sure because Rachel said you were sick this morning," he said, taking a seat at the kitchen table, eyeing the food Monica was making.

"And, ya know, other mornings," he said, shifting his gaze back to Monica as Rachel came back out of her bedroom, putting on the last of her jewelry. Monica cleared her throat as Chandler crossed over to lean against the back of the sofa.

"Rach, Joe, I…" she said. "I think you might want to sit down."

Chandler watched Monica tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as Rachel took a seat at the table. His palms started to sweat when the door opened and Ross and Phoebe walked in.

He grunted a greeting along with everyone else, but kept his eyes on Monica. She turned down a burner on the stove and briefly glanced back at him.

"What's going on?" Phoebe asked, picking up on the tension in the room. Monica pulled out a chair close to her and asked Ross to sit down. Phoebe leaned against the sofa with Chandler, who felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge.

This was it.

"I, um, I have some news," Monica said, trying to sound excited despite an unsure tremor in her voice. "I, um...a few months ago, right about the time the triplets were born, Pheebs, I made a...a decision…"

"Oh, God," Rachel gasped, throwing a hand over her mouth.

"I, ah, you all know how much I...I've wanted to be a mom," she said, trying not to see her brother's jaw drop in her peripheral vision. "And, well, I'm going to be..."

"Oh, Mon, are you looking at sperm donors again?" Ross asked, clearly not happy his sister was going down this road once more.

"Well, I've already thought about it, Ross," she said, casting a glance at Chandler, who had a building sheen of perspiration across his forehead. She smiled at her brother. "I'm kinda past the thinking stage. I went through the procedure a little over eight weeks ago and, um, actually, I'm pregnant!"

"Oh my God!" Rachel exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

"What?!" Ross asked. "You're pregnant?!"

"Yes," she said, suddenly smiling.

"Oh, Mon, I'm so happy for you!" Phoebe said, giving her friend the first happy hug of the morning. Chandler visibly relaxed. At least one person was happy for her.

"How are you feeling?" Joey asked, giving her a hug as well. "Rachel said you were getting sick."

"Yes, but just for a few minutes in the morning, then I'm fine," she said with a reassuring smile to Joey. "Honestly, I'm a little tired but I've never felt better."

She grinned at Chandler and he grinned back. In the excitement no one seemed to notice.

"Oh, this is so great!" Rachel said. "And I'm so relieved and...and happy for you, but why didn't you tell us?"

"I...I needed time for it to sink in," she said, only half-lying. She looked at her brother, who still seemed to be in shock.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Ross asked. "I mean, having a baby on your own is going to be tough…"

"We'll help her!" Rachel interrupted, putting an arm around Monica, making her smile brighter. "We all will, won't we? Chandler?"

She looked over at the only person in the room who hadn't said a word yet. All eyes turned to Chandler, who nodded.

"We sure will," he said, his voice thick with an emotion he couldn't quite swallow down. Monica pursed her lips together, her own eyes welling up with tears.

"So, who's the father?" Joey asked excitedly. "The astronaut dude you picked out before?"

Chandler gulped, feeling like he might faint. He shifted his feet and gripped the back of the couch, his eyes shifting from Joey to Ross.

Monica just shook her head, trying to find her voice as she looked at the floor then back up again as Rachel started firing questions at her. Questions she knew would be coming. Questions she honestly couldn't wait to answer.

"Who then?" Rachel asked. "What does he look like? Dark hair, blond? Blue eyes or green eyes? Rocket scientist? Underwear model?"

Chandler rolled his eyes as Monica giggled.

"Well, he's smart," Monica whispered, her eyes slowly seeking Chandler's across the kitchen. "Brown hair, blue eyes, he's tall and I'd say handsome…"

She smiled softly at him and his face felt warm as he grinned back at her.

Phoebe almost yelped, putting a hand over her mouth.

"It's you!" she said, pointing to Chandler, who turned his head to her in a flash, his eyes flashing panic. Then he looked back at Monica. This was hers to confirm or deny.

"You! You're Monica's sperm donor!" Phoebe said, jumping up and down.

"What?!" Ross said, sounding much less enthused. Joey and Rachel gasped, whipping their heads around to Chandler, then back to Monica.

"Yes," she affirmed, with a smile. "It's Chandler."

 _ **NOTE: Wow. Well, that was a decent-sized chapter! Hope it tides you over 'til next time :)**_


	8. Chapter 8

Chandler started jogging down the sidewalk, dodging people left and right, glancing up now and then at the clouds that looked ready to burst at any moment.

He'd been held up at a meeting at work, which is why he was running late to this most critical of doctor's appointments. He stopped jogging and sighed heavily at the throng of pedestrians now blocking most of the sidewalk, masses of people as always cramming the city's streets. He'd almost hailed a cab when he left his building, but decided he could go the 10 blocks or so faster on foot. He was currently bitterly regretting that decision.

As he fell into step with the pack, he couldn't help but smile. Four months. Monica was four months pregnant. Ever since the morning sickness had subsided a few weeks ago, she'd told him she felt better than ever. Oh, she was a little more tired in the evenings, she'd said, but so energized every morning that she could handle a little weariness.

Chandler's smile turned into a soft grin as he crossed the street. She was starting to show. It was just a bump, but it was clearly noticeable. Sometimes he caught himself just staring at her when she made breakfast in the mornings, still somewhat in shock that a little part of him was growing inside of her. He, of course, wasn't the only one. The initial shock their friends - and her brother - felt at the news was pretty intense...

" _What?!" Ross demanded, swiftly standing up from his chair at the kitchen table when Monica had told them the news._

 _Rachel stood too, grabbing onto Ross's arm so he wouldn't move toward Chandler, who had suddenly gotten very pale as he stood gripping the back of the couch._

" _Ross!" Monica said, more exasperated than angry._

 _Chandler held his breath a moment, then nodded and Ross jerked his arm away from Rachel. Joey jumped up then, also to stop Ross, as Chandler put his hands up and began to try to explain._

" _Listen..." he started, then Phoebe interrupted him._

" _Ross!" she said firmly, arms crossed as she took a step into his short path. "Stop acting like an ass and sit down."_

" _But…" Ross protested._

" _Sit!" she pointed back to his chair. And miraculously he did after a brief glance at his sister with a scowl on his face._

 _Rachel and Joey sat again. Suddenly four sets of eyes were flicking back and forth between Monica and Chandler, waiting for an explanation. Monica took a deep breath._

" _Look," she started, not really looking at anyone in particular as she started to explain. "I know I impulsively decided I wanted to have a baby on my own after Richard and I broke up a couple years ago, but I didn't. I was...I was just trying to fill the void he left, I guess, back then."_

 _She paused as she looked into the concerned faces of her friends, then glanced at Chandler, who finally had color back in his face._

" _Anyway, this isn't...this decision wasn't like that," she said, speaking from the heart. "I'm not trying to fill a void, at least not a 'boyfriend' void."_

 _She looked down at Ross, who had calmed a bit by this point._

" _I want to be a Mom," she said simply, tears springing to her eyes. "I want what you and Ben have. I want what Alice and Frank have with the triplets. I...I want a baby of my own."_

" _Mon…" Ross started, but she shushed him._

" _I'm_ going _to have a baby of my own," she said, more firmly this time, putting her hand over her stomach, "and I hope as my brother, as my friends, you'll support me."_

 _Rachel and Phoebe smiled and nodded when she looked at them. Joey had a goofy grin on his face and glanced at Ross, who sighed and dropped his head. No one said a word for a moment, silent looks passing around the group. Then Ross reached up for his sister and pulled her to him, kissing the back of her hand._

" _Of course I will," he said, with a small smile. Then he sobered again and looked over at Chandler. "But, I gotta know, how did you get involved in this?"_

" _Yeah," Joey said. "_ Your _baby? How is she havin' your baby, dude?!"_

 _All eyes turned to Chandler as he sucked in his bottom lip and looked at Monica. She gave him a nod and a grin, giving him the signal to speak as freely as he wanted._

" _Yes," he said quietly. Phoebe smiled as Rachel gasped._

" _Yes, the baby...the...ah...sperm that made the baby did, um, come from me," he began to clarify as he saw Ross's ears begin to turn crimson again. Then he started to ramble."I'm just the sperm donor. I mean, there was no sex involved or anything like that. It was kinda, actually, really, ah...clinical, to be honest…"_

 _Chandler trailed off._

" _So...what?" Phoebe asked. "I mean, how did it happen? How did you end up being her baby daddy?"_

 _Ross moaned as Chandler glared at Phoebe, who winked at him. Chandler shot an imploring look to Monica, who gratefully took over the story._

" _He, um, he found out that I was looking at sperm donor applications," she said._

" _Oh," Rachel said, beginning to connect the dots. "You saw the donor sheets, too?"_

 _Chandler just nodded._

" _He, well, he knew I was seriously thinking about it and, honestly, the only thing holding me back was making sure I picked the right donor, ya know?" Monica continued, beginning to ramble herself, so Chandler jumped back in._

" _I just...I thought she should at least_ know _the guy whose baby she was going to have," Chandler said quickly. "So, I...I offered to be the donor."_

" _Oh my God," Rachel said, looking back and forth between them with tears in her eyes._

" _So, what does this mean, then?" Ross added, not quite angry anymore but curious. "This is your responsibility, now, too, ya know," he said, pointing at Chandler._

" _No, it's not," Monica said. "I'm going to raise the baby on my own."_

" _But…" Ross protested again._

" _No, look, Ross," she said, pleading with him. "Chandler and I, we met with a lawyer, drew up papers..."_

" _You did?" he said, blinking back in shock._

" _Yes," Chandler said, taking a step toward Ross, then he saw his glare and pivoted to Monica. "I donated sperm at the sperm bank for her after we talked to the lawyer. I won't have any legal rights to the baby. There is no shared custody agreement…"_

 _He glanced at Monica._

" _We worked everything out," she continued. "The baby is my responsibility, but he or she will know that Chandler is the father."_

" _Yeah, we...we both wanted that," he said quietly. "I mean, I'm still gonna be in the kid's life anyway and he, she, whoever, should know where they come from."_

" _Whomever," Ross corrected, after a quiet moment had passed._

" _Really, Ross?!" Rachel said. Ross gave her a little smile, breaking the tension in the room._

" _Well, come here," Phoebe said, starting the group hug that formed around them. "Congratulations, Monica!"_

" _Oh, you're gonna be a great Mom," Rachel said and Monica beamed, finally relaxing into the moment._

" _Congrats to you, too, Sperm Donor Dad," Phoebe said. Chandler chuckled._

" _Thanks, Pheebs," he said, relieved. "I'll take it. After all, this could be the only way I'll ever be able to procreate."_

 _Monica rolled her watery eyes and elbowed him in the ribs as the group hug broke up._

" _But you didn't even have sex," Joey said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You can't even knock someone up right!"_

 _Ross and Chandler both shot him a glare as Rachel and Phoebe snickered._

" _Oh, he offered," Monica said, a tease in her voice._

" _Oh my God, Mon, shhh!" Chandler said, his head swiveling from her to her brother in a panic._

" _I was just kidding," he said quickly, with a nervous grin._

" _I know," she giggled as Ross came over to give her a hug, just a touch of apprehension in his eyes._

" _Then, I guess, congratulations, Sis," he whispered into her hair and she squeezed him tight. He looked down at her and added sincerely. "Your baby has no idea how lucky it is that_ you _are going to be his or her Mom."_

 _Monica's still-teary eyes overflowed._

" _Thank you, Ross," she whispered, as he pulled her to him again. Chandler was grinning at them both and Ross grinned back._

" _Oh," Rachel said, smiling at Chandler then her roommate. "Your baby is going to be so beautiful."_

 _Chandler swallowed hard and glanced at Monica._

" _Only if it takes after Mon," Chandler said softly, and Monica beamed at him as she shook her head…_

Chandler was a block away from the doctor's office building when the skies opened up. He trudged up the one flight of stairs shaking the rain from his coat. He explained to the receptionist who he was and learned Monica had already been taken back to the examination room and was expecting him.

"Where have you been?" she asked as he came into the room, hung up his coat and slicked his wet hair back.

"Sorry," he said, coming to stand next to her

"Raining?" she asked, with a smirk.

"No. Swam the Hudson," he deadpanned and she glared at him.

"Has Dr. Connolly been in yet?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets as he came to stand next to her shoulders as she lay down on the table.

"No," she said. "The tech said she'd be back any minute. The ultrasound machine was out of paper."

"Ah…" he said, beginning to nervously bounce on the balls of his feet.

"I think she might be new," she said, her eyes widening at him.

"Grrrreat," he said sarcastically, as he rolled his eyes. The door opened.

"Here we go," the tech said as he put the photo paper into the machine and pushed back Monica's paper gown, nodding in acknowledgment that Chandler had joined them. "Ohhh...this is my favorite part! Are you both ready to find out your baby's gender?"

Chandler swallowed hard as Monica nodded excitedly. The wand went over her belly, then suddenly the swoosh of the ultrasound machine was overwhelmed by rapid heartbeats.

"Oh my God," Monica whispered, subconsciously reaching for Chandler's hand. He took her hand in his and listened as the heart beats seemed to double in rapid succession. He looked at the tech, who had a small frown on her face.

"That's...fast," he said, the awe of the moment replaced by worry as his own heartbeat pounded in his ears. "Or, is that an echo?"

"Is that normal?" Monica asked quickly, now squeezing Chandler's hand painfully. "Is everything OK?"

"Um," the tech said, shutting off the sound of the machine. "Yes. I...I'll be right back."

Chandler watched her leave the room, then looked down at a terrified Monica.

"It'll be OK, Mon," he said, trying to reassure her, himself, as he smoothed her hair away from her face.

"What _was_ that?" she asked, not really expecting him to answer. "The last ultrasound didn't sound like that. The heartbeat was fast, but…"

She chewed on her thumbnail. Something was wrong, she just knew it. She stared at Chandler's long fingers, wrapped tightly around her hand as he looked pensively once again toward the door. Monica closed her eyes, hanging on to him for dear life and thanking God he was there with her. She'd done everything she was supposed to do. She'd felt great. But, if something was wrong with the baby…

"Hello Monica," Dr. Connolly said as he came in, with the tech following behind. "And, it's Chandler, correct?"

"Yeah," Chandler croaked out, then cleared his throat. "Yes."

"Is everything OK?" Monica asked, her anxiety about to overwhelm her.

"Oh, I think so," he said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Let's take a look though, shall we?"

For a frozen minute they all sat and waited in near silence as the doctor pushed the wand around her stomach. Then he smiled and turned up the volume on the ultrasound machine. Again, there were rapid heartbeats beating in succession.

Chandler furrowed his brow, still gripping Monica's hand.

"Doctor?" she asked, unable to wait for an answer any longer.

"What you hear are two heartbeats," he said, looking from Monica to Chandler and back again as Monica gasped. "What we have here are two babies."

Monica just stared at the doctor, dumbfounded. Chandler was sure he hadn't heard him correctly.

"I'm sorry," he asked, frowning. "What did you say?"

"Two babies," he repeated. "Developing right now are two healthy baby girls. You, Monica, are going to have twins."

 _ **NOTE: So, I hate writing flashbacks like this two updates in a row, but I wanted to speed time up a little bit. This story has already gone on for the gestation period of an elephant as it is. LOL!**_

 _ **I have no idea when the next update is going to come. But, on the plus side, a few later chapters are already close to completion or have been finished for quite some time. So, the sooner I get to those, the better. Thanks so much for sticking with this one. And, as Mon would say, it "just got interesting!" :)**_


	9. Chapter 9

"Twins!"

"Monica…"

"Chandler," she said, turning to him in a flash just outside the door to her bedroom. She'd worn a hole in the floor pacing around the living room as Chandler watched her helplessly from the kitchen.

They'd left the doctor's office in a stunned silence, Monica murmuring only the words she needed to in order the set up her follow-up appointments with Dr. Connelly's receptionist. She'd almost gnawed the nail off her thumb on the cab ride back to their building, looking out the window. When she'd glance at Chandler she tried to smile, and he tried, too, but he didn't have a clue what to say to her.

"You," she said, pointing a finger accusingly at him. "You and your, your super sperm!"

He had just opened his mouth to try to respond to that when Rachel came flying into Apartment 20.

"Oh good, you're back!" she exclaimed, practically panting as she sat down her purse and smiled at them both, clapping her hands together excitedly. "So? What do we have? A boy or a girl?"

Chandler sighed and shot a pensive glance at Monica, who had a tight smile on her face as she tried hard not to actually glare at her roommate.

Before either of them could respond Joey and Phoebe waltzed into the apartment, too.

"Rachel, aren't you supposed to be at work?" Monica asked, almost through clenched teeth.

"Pfft, work," Rachel said, with a wave of her hand. "I left early. This is important! The sex of the baby…"

She clapped her hands again, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Phoebe and Joey had wide smiles on their faces as they looked expectantly to Monica, who kept the tight smile on her face to mask her apprehension.

Phoebe didn't fail to notice and her smile fell just a touch.

"Monica," she started, looking from her girlfriend to a pensive Chandler. "Is everything OK?"

"Yes!" Monica said quickly, trying hard to relax and share the joy in what they'd found out today and not focus on the part that made her more nauseous than morning sickness. "Everything is fine. Every...body is healthy."

"Everybody?" Phoebe asked, confused.

"Wait, wait!" Ross said from behind the door as it flew open and he ran into the apartment. He was panting. "Did I miss it?! Do we know? Niece or nephew?"

Chandler chuckled as Monica grinned a little, despite herself, and shook her head.

"No," Chandler assured him. "We haven't gotten a word in edgewise since we walked in two minutes ago."

"Good, OK," Ross said, relieved. "I'm on my way to get Ben but Carol and Susan have threatened to lock me out of their apartment unless I have 'news.'"

He rolled his eyes.

"Hey, can we guess?" Joey asked earnestly. "I mean, it's a 50-50 shot, right?"

Chandler cast a bemused look at Monica.

"Kinda," she said, wearily sitting down on the kitchen chair. Chandler turned and opened the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water for her. She grinned gratefully at him as he handed it to her, then moved to stand behind her and began to absentmindedly rub her shoulders.

Rachel stole a glance at Phoebe, both grinning softly, before turning their attention back to the conversation.

"Kinda?" Joey asked, confused. Ross furrowed his brow, then gave his sister a sad grin.

"Aw, they couldn't tell if it is a boy or a girl on the ultrasound, could they?" he surmised.

"Oh, they could tell," Monica said, taking a swig of her water. Rachel glanced at Chandler, whose eyes were firmly staring at the top of Monica's head.

"Well?!" Rachel finally demanded, hand on her hip, eyes flicking back and forth between the two.

Monica wiped her mouth and put a smile on her face.

"Well, the gender is female!" Monica said, her face splitting in two at the "yays" and "ahhs" of her friends echoed around them, then Chandler put up his hands.

"But wait," he said dramatically as Monica grimaced, briefly squeezing her eyes closed. "There's more…"

The friends all looked at each other and Monica sighed.

"Twins," she said, looking down and placing her palm over her ever-growing belly.

"Twins?!" Rachel gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

"Yeah, baby!" Joey said, beaming at Chandler. "My boy's got it in him after all!"

Chandler grinned, "well…"

"Yes, twins," Monica said. "Someone is very, ah, fertile, apparently."

She glanced back at Chandler, who shrugged.

"It's not like I planned it," he said, defensively.

"Wow, Mon, twins…" Ross said, furrowing his brow.

"Oh, that's nothing," Phoebe said with a wave of her hand. "Now triplets…"

Chandler grinned at her, thankful someone was trying to lighten the mood. Monica grinned.

"Mon, how...how do you feel about all this?" Rachel asked hesitantly, casting a glance at Chandler.

"Fine," she said quickly, too quickly to be convincing. "I'm fine. Of course I'm fine."

She brushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear and stood up, looking at her friends.

"I wanted a baby and now I'll have two and I...I'll figure it out," she said, shifting her eyes left and right, really looking at nobody in particular.

No one said a word for a moment or two, casting cautious glances at one another. Finally, Chandler cleared his throat.

"Listen we...she just found this out less than an hour ago," he said, putting a reassuring arm around her shoulder. "She just needs time to think and...and, ya know, process it. Monica and the, the babies are healthy..."

Monica lifted her chin and tried to pull herself together and look confident. She nodded with a small grin.

"That's what's important," Ross said quietly, with as reassuring a smile as he could muster at that moment.

"Right," Monica said, with some relief as Chandler nodded.

"That, and, ya know, the fact that this proves I do have super sperm," Chandler deadpanned. Joey chuckled as Ross shot him a death stare. Rachel rolled her eyes and Phoebe shook her head.

"We'll leave you alone to 'process' this, OK?" Phoebe said, moving to give Monica a reassuring hug as Joey nodded his agreement.

"Yeah," Rachel said, reaching for Monica when her hug with Phoebe broke. "We'll...we'll figure it all out."

She nodded, trying to assure herself as much as her roommate. "We'll go downstairs and get some coffee."

"I've got to get Ben," Ross said. "But, hey, I'm going to have two nieces and that is pretty cool."

He gave her a hug and smiled at her. Monica smiled a genuine smile as she hugged him in return.

He looked at Chandler over her shoulder, who grinned and nodded. There was something in the way Chandler was standing behind Monica that gave Ross pause. It was steadfast, almost protective. He nodded back then turned and followed the others out of the apartment.

Monica sighed and turned back to Chandler, hand on her hip and a conciliatory expression on her face.

"I'm sorry," she said, cocking her head to the side.

He shot her a confused look. "For what?"

"For the crack about your 'super sperm,'" she said. "The fact that I'm pregnant with twins isn't...it's not your fault."

"Well, it's kinda my fault," he said with a little nod. She didn't answer, but turned and slowly walked away from him, taking a deep breath.

"Did you see her face?" Monica said.

"Who's face?"

"Rachel's."

Now he was really confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"She's freaking out!"

" _She's_ freaking out?!" he blinking in disbelief.

"I planned this all out," she said, turning to him again, seemingly calmer that before the gang came in, but starting to gesture around the apartment again. "I planned, I had a budget. I...I had a map of the apartment."

Chandler grinned, remembering how excited she was to show everyone all her plans just the other day.

"You know, the bassinet would go here and...and, and eventually a crib would go in that corner in my bedroom, remember, that one I cleared out?" she continued.

Chandler just nodded, eyeing her carefully, waiting for her anxiety switch to flip again.

"Then when the baby got bigger, ya know, I...by then I could probably afford this place on my own, right? I mean, I'll be making more in a couple years...and...and, but now. How? How am I gonna fit two cribs in there?"

"Do they make bunk bed cribs?" he said, trying to make her smile. It didn't work.

"I'm serious!" she said. Chandler's shoulders slumped and she rambled on.

" I can't...it's not like I can kick Rachel out, ya know?" she said. "This place is rent controlled, but I need her to help pay rent. I can't afford this place on my own. I...I can't afford _two_ babies, but I know she doesn't want to help me take care of two babies! I mean, this isn't her future..."

The panicked look started to come back into her eyes and Chandler took a step toward her. She put her hand up to stop him, closed her eyes and swallowed, willing herself to calm down. Chandler let out a frustrated sigh.

"Monica, I can help pay…."

"Chandler, no! This isn't your responsibility…"

"Will you stop saying that!" he said sharply. She shot her eyes open and looked at him, somewhat startled. Chandler put his hands on his hips and dropped his head.

"Look," he said, finally hoping he'd startled her into silence, "OK, I know. I know this isn't my responsibility? This isn't part of "the contract." I get it. But, Jesus, I give money to Joey for, for dialect lessons that are _never_ going to help. I can do this!"

Monica cracked a smile at that and Chandler relaxed a little and started to cross the room toward her.

"The point is, I can afford to help my friends out when they need it," he said softly, walking to her and putting his hands on her shoulders. She started to speak again and he put a finger to her lips to silence her. "I would help you out even if these babies weren't connected to me, but Monica, they are so let's quit pretending they aren't."

Monica looked at him, speechless. He looked determined, not willing to take "no" for an answer. He wasn't freaking out. He reached for her and pulled him to her.

"Please... _please_ let me help you, financially and, and however else you need, OK?"

He smiled gently down at her, but Monica's heart was pounding hard and her head was swimming. Monica blinked and caught herself before she got completely lost in whatever moment was taking over her senses and pulled back a little, still leaning into him. She swallowed hard and gave him a little smile.

"Still coming out Jamaican, huh?" she said with a grin.

"What?" he said, breathlessly. He was suddenly distracted. Her baby bump was pressing on his stomach and he couldn't move. He couldn't focus. This was the first time he'd held her so close to him that he could feel her pregnant body against him. He was completely transfixed.

Monica furrowed her brow and studied him.

"Joey's accent," she said, confused as she stepped back a little.

"Oh, yeah, yes," he said absentmindedly, looking down between them, his hand involuntarily moving toward her stomach. "Still not southern."

He paused just before he placed his palm on her bump and looked into her eyes.

"Can I?" he asked gently.

She searched his face, almost in awe. It was her turn to be spellbound by the soft look in his eyes.

"Of course," she whispered.

Gently, he placed his hand on her, lightly running his fingertips over her as she shivered. He looked back at her and grinned softly, the hand behind her back pulling her closer to him.

"That's amazing," he whispered, his eyes never leaving hers. She lifted her face to his, one hand sliding over his fingers against her stomach and before he knew what he was doing he leaned down and kissed her...

 _ **NOTE: We're getting closer folks… ;)**_


	10. Chapter 10

Joey, Rachel and Phoebe entered Central Perk moments later, making their way to the orange sofa and giving their orders to Gunther.

"So…" Joey said, letting out a long breath, tapping his fingers on his knees and looking from one woman to another. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, I just don't know," Rachel said. "I mean, I'll help her any way I can, she gave me a roof over my head when I left Barry, but _two_ babies…"

"What?" Joey interrupted, confused.

"Monica," Rachel said, turning to him. "What were you talking about?"

"Food!" Joey said, the unspoken "duh" plain on his face. "It's getting close to dinner time…"

"Joey," Rachel said with irritation. "How can you think of food at a time like this?!"

"There's never a bad time to think about food," he said. Phoebe smiled at him as a parent would a child and patted his knee.

"That's true," she said, reassuringly as Joey grinned.

"Phoebe!" Rachel said. "Weren't you just there? Didn't you hear what Monica said?!"

"Yes, Rachel, I heard what Monica said," Phoebe said, rolling her eyes. "I just don't think you're going to have to help her raise the babies. Chandler is going to be there. He will."

"What?" Joey said, chuckling a little. " _Chandler_? I don't think so."

Rachel smirked at Joey and nodded.

"I have to agree here, Pheebs," she said, gesturing to Joey as Gunther brought them their drinks. "I'm sure Chandler will help some, like we all will, but you heard what they said. They went to a lawyer and everything. I mean, Chandler went to great lengths to make sure he _didn't_ have any responsibility!"

Phoebe shrugged.

"I think that was probably more her idea than his," she said. "Have you seen the two of them lately?"

"Whatta mean?" Joey asked.

"He was focused like a laser beam on her when we were upstairs," Phoebe said. "Like he was looking for anything that might upset her or finding a way to make her more comfortable…"

"Like getting the water," Rachel said, suddenly realizing Phoebe might really be onto something.

"Exactly!" Phoebe said excitedly.

"Huh, I never thought," Rachel agreed. "But, they've always been close…"

"...but now it's on a new level," Phoebe finished for her.

"Oh my God!" Rachel said, suddenly excited now.

"You guys are nuts," Joey said, looking at them like they were crazy. "He was just being a good friend."

"I don't think so," Phoebe said, shaking her head. "Think about it. He offered to be her sperm donor and did it. Chandler! He's gone to doctors appointments with her. He's getting her water. I'm telling you, it's only a matter of time."

"A matter of time until what?" Joey asked, genuinely confused.

"Until they fall in love," Rachel said, now beaming.

"Yes!" Phoebe said, smiling just as wide.

"Woah," Joey said, putting his hands up and furrowing his brow. "I don't know about that."

"Who do you think will fall first?" Rachel said, her head now swimming with romance as she ignored Joey's comment.

"Chandler, of course," Phoebe said matter-of-factly with a nod. Rachel nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I'm outta here," Joey said, standing up. "I'm not gonna play any part in yous twos matchmaking scheme. It's just a friend helping a friend, that's all."

"It's not a scheme," Phoebe said, sitting back and sipping her tea. "It's their future."

Joey rolled his eyes as Rachel clapped excitedly. Joey started to walk out of the coffee house.

"Where are you going?" Rachel called. "You still have coffee."

"Not gonna plan a whole imaginary future for Monica and Chandler," Joey said. "They're friends. Friends with...with a kid. Kids. That's it!"

Rachel smirked at Phoebe.

"Now, Joe, we're not going to pick out China patterns," Rachel said.

"Maybe nursery room colors," Phoebe suggested. She and Rachel shared a giggle as Joey, with a concerned look on his face, walked out the door.

###

Monica closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath as Chandler's lips lingered on her cheek. For a moment she swore he was going to kiss her, actually kiss her, and she was going to let him. She was four and a half months pregnant and hornier than hell. A good kiss from the father of her children wouldn't have been a bad release at all.

Not at all.

Chandler took a deep breath through his nose, suddenly fighting the urge to move his lips an inch to the right and mesh them with hers. His hand was still pressed firmly to her stomach as he pulled back and looked into her eyes, their faces so close, the babies growing safely between them.

Monica's eyes were searching his face. She licked her lips as her gaze fell to his mouth. Chandler leaned down, his heart pounding in his ears when Monica suddenly stepped back. She put her hand over her mouth and began to giggle, her wide eyes looking into his. His eyes widened in surprise as he cleared his throat, his face now burning with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," he said, clearing his throat again. She began to shake her head then burst out laughing.

"No, I'm sorry...oh," Monica said, jumping again, tears beginning to stream down her face. She placed her hand over her stomach.

When she couldn't stop laughing, Chandler put both hands on his hips and cocked his head to the side, giving her a confused look of amusement.

"Oh," she said, trying to catch her breath. She placed her free hand on his arm. "One of the babies is using my bladder as a...a trampoline and it, it tickles!"

"What?" he said, chuckling himself now. "Seriously?"

"Yes, oh!" Monica laughed, both hands on her stomach now. "Oh, I've never felt this before!"

He smiled widely as Monica tried to get her breathing under control. Their brief almost kiss momentarily forgotten.

"Ah…it's stopped now," she said, wiping her tears away with her finger tips while still taking deep breaths. "Oh my, that was weird…"

"Have you felt them before?" he asked, moving his palm back to her stomach. Monica shook her head.

"Not like that," she said. "I mean, sometimes it feels like they're fish swimming around, but it's very light."

"Huh," Chandler said, grinning at her. She smiled at him.

"I'm glad they're already making you laugh," Chandler said softly with his crooked grin.

"Must be yours," she said, putting her hand over his, marveling at how his fingers completely covered her stomach. It wouldn't be long before that would no longer be the case, she thought. She looked up into his eyes and found them staring back at her, the tension building in the room once more.

"Chandler?" she said, finally breaking trance between them.

"Yeah?" he said, holding his breath.

"I, ah, I need to pee," she said, looking longingly at the bathroom door. "All the bouncing…"

"Oh, yeah, sure," he said, taking a step back and dropping his hand from her stomach. "Yeah, me, too."

He cleared his throat again and motioned toward her apartment door.

"I'll just head back," he said with a little nod. "Ah, see you later?"

"Yep," she said with a nod, then disappeared into the bathroom. Chandler furrowed his brow and walked across the hall, his heart pounding hard.

Monica leaned against the other side of the closed bathroom door and bit her lip, wondering if her racing heart was because of the babies' activity...or because of Chandler.

###

"Jesus, Joe! Whatta doing?" Chandler jumped after coming out of his bathroom to what he thought was an empty apartment, or had been when he first came home. Instead he found Joey standing just outside the bathroom door, arms crossed.

"It's all yours," he said, motioning to Joey with the newspaper in his hand.

"We need to talk," Joey said sternly. Chandler raised his eyebrows.

"What?" he said, confused. "I flushed."

"Not that," Joey said, rolling his eyes and motioning for the barca loungers. "About...Monica."

"What about Monica?" he asked as he crossed the room and sat down, Joey doing the same on the opposite chair. Anxiety crossed Chandler's face as Joey fidgeted in his chair, not exactly sure how to start.

"Come on, Joe, what is it?"

"OK," Joey said, taking a deep breath. "OK, so, the baby...uh, babies. Monica's babies…"

Chandler's anxiousness turned to frustration as Joey paused once more.

"Uh, yeah, I've heard about 'em," he said, with more than a hint of sarcasm. Joey sighed.

"They are _Monica's_ babies, right? I mean, they aren't your responsibility, OK? That's what she said. They are only hers," Joey said, beginning to ramble. "You signed a contract and...I mean, it's not like we all won't help her because, ya know, _of course_ we all will but you...you don't have to do more than the rest of us just because...because somehow she ended up with your, ya know, swimmers…"

"I, um...what?" Chandler said, furrowing his brow.

"You know what I mean," Joey said, hopefully.

"No," Chandler said honestly. "That would be the 'what.'"

"OK, look," Joey said, starting to get animated. "I just...I don't think you should be more involved than you have to."

Chandler was taken aback by that comment.

"Whatta mean?" Chandler challenged, feeling defensive.

"I mean you shouldn't do more than what you agreed to, OK?" Joey said, sternly.

"Why not?" Chandler countered, becoming agitated.

"You don't have to," Joey said. "It's not like you got her pregnant the old fashioned way and...and you just shouldn't."

"Wha...why?" Chandler said, shrugging as his voice rose another octave.

"Because," Joey said, rubbing his palm along the back of his neck. "I know you and you...you'll get attached. You'll get too attached to them and...and someday Monica will meet some guy and...and those babies will have a family and...I just don't want to see you get hurt, ya know?"

Chandler inhaled sharply, at once touched by his friend's concern for him and at the same time confused by the feeling of loss that suddenly washed over him. He looked away from Joey, suddenly remembering his near kiss with her just a half hour earlier. He'd been swept up in the moment, feeling overwhelmed and empowered by the fact that she was carrying his children. But it had been a moment and it had passed...hadn't it?

He glanced back at Joey, who was looking at him pensively. He sighed, knowing that even if what Joey said was valid he'd still go on helping Monica anyway, in any way he could.

"Look," he said to Joey with a little grin as he slapped his roommate's knee with his newspaper. "I hear what you're saying. I do. And I...I really appreciate it, OK? But I...I know I'm just the sperm donor. I'll help her because she's one of my best friends, and God knows she's gonna need help, but I know that I...I don't have any claim to, uh, them."

He cleared his throat as a knot formed in it at his last words. Logically, he knew what he said was true and smiled a little at the relief on Joey's face.

"OK," Joey said with a sigh. "OK, as long as you know. I just...I didn't want…"

"I know, I get it," Chandler said with a nod. "Thanks."

"OK," Joey said with a relieved smile. He stood up and grabbed for the newspaper in Chandler's hands. "Sports?" he asked.

Chandler smirked and gave him the Sports section of the newspaper, sitting back down as Joey made his way to the bathroom and opening up the A section once again.

As soon as the bathroom door shut Chandler closed his eyes tight behind the paper. A small part of him knew that his best friend's argument wasn't only valid, it was spot on. He shook his head. He'd have to take precautions and keep his guard up, he thought, especially when the babies came. He'd just have to find a way to protect his heart once his days of "playing house" with Monica and her baby girls inevitably came to an end.

 _ **NOTE: Sorry for the Jedi mind trick there, guys, but we really are getting closer. I promise! And that little thing with the babies and the bladder - yep, that happened to me with my daughter. It tickled something awful, but was so neat, too. I can still remember what it felt like :) Thank you for sticking with this story and for all your reviews!**_


	11. Chapter 11

Chandler crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, mentally taking measurements of the room.

He sighed and glanced at the empty space in front of the bay window of Monica's apartment, the warning from Joey months ago echoing non-stop in the space between his ears. His mind took him back to Christmas time, the best Christmas of his entire life.

He remembered Monica's wide smile and infectious giggle as she opened gift after gift from her friends all related to the babies. She'd ended the holidays with no less than three pairs of "Baby's First fill-in-the-blank" onesies in all different sizes.

As he watched her, his heart had soared and sank at various moments, including the moment she opened his gift to her - one he thought he'd hidden far enough under the tree that no one would see it and he could give it to her in private...

" _Oh, there's one more," Rachel said excitedly, her hands searching for any signs of more presents under the tree._

" _There is?" Monica asked in surprise. Chandler's heart sped up then dropped as he saw the box Rachel pulled out from under the tree. He winced and leaned forward on the couch, his hands clasped tight between his knees._

" _It's to you," Rachel said, trying to hide her disappointment that the final present wasn't for herself. Then her eyes lit up and she smiled gently at Monica, who was sitting on the oversized chair. Rachel knelt down beside her and handed her the gift. "It's from Chandler."_

 _For a split second Chandler thought of snatching the box away as Rachel handed it to Monica, but instead he held his breath and watched her open it._

 _Monica turned her head and her eyes locked a moment with his. The tenderness in her look made his heart skip a beat. He'd caught her looking at him that way more than once recently and wondered at what it might mean._

 _She opened the box and found one Christmas ornament inside. On it were painted one snowman and one snowwoman. The woman had "Great Expectations" with an arrow pointed down painted on her snow belly. The snowman had a wide charcoal grin on his face._

 _Chandler saw Monica's eyes water as she studied the shiney bulb, then she smiled at him._

" _This is so adorable," she whispered, shaking her head in disbelief._

" _Lemme see, oh!" Phoebe said as she stood over Monica's shoulder, grinning. "Oh, that's too cute!"_

 _Chandler grinned at them both as Rachel "ohh and ahh'd" over the gift as well. Then he heard Joey clear his throat._

 _When Chandler looked up he saw a mildly confused grin on Ross's face as he looked at his sister, but he didn't mistake the look on Joey's face. His own grin faltered and he swallowed hard as Joey looked at him with a stern expression then shook his head._

" _Where did you find this?" Monica asked, bringing his focus back to her._

" _I...ah, well, I ordered it," he said, taking the ornament from her and looking at it. "I, ah, I thought it was kinda neat…"_

" _It is," Monica affirmed. She took his hand in hers as he handed the ornament back to her. "Will you help me put it on the tree."_

 _Chandler nodded and stood up, helping Monica to her feet in the process. Miraculously their friends left them to themselves as Monica walked over to the side of the tree closest to her bedroom. She handed Chandler the ornament and pointed to a relatively vacant spot about a foot above her head._

" _Would you hang it right there?" she asked. Chandler nodded and started to place the ornament where he thought she was pointing._

" _No!" she said, when he was too far let. "There! No, more to the right."_

 _Chandler tried hard not to sigh. Her pregnancy hormones made her hyper-control-freakness just that much worse. After a few more scoldings, he finally hung it in the right place._

" _We good now?" he asked. "My arms are tired!"_

" _Yes, yes, sorry," she said, giving him a little grin as he rolled his eyes. They both pulled back to look at the ornament as Chandler slung his arm over her shoulders. He felt her tense up just a touch as she folded her arms over her swollen stomach and dropped her head to the floor._

" _You, OK?" he asked._

" _Yeah," she said with a catch in her throat as she looked at the snowmen with watery eyes one more time. "Yeah, I'm fine."_

 _Chandler furrowed his eyebrows then his eyes opened wide. He cleared his throat nervously and dropped his arm from around her. ._

" _Listen," he said, nodding and gesturing to the gift. "I didn't mean to imply anything by their being two snowmen…"_

 _She shot him a confused look._

" _I know...I know we're not, ya know, a 'family' family and it's not my 'great expectation'..." he stuttered out._

" _Chandler," Monica sighed._

" _But they didn't make single-mom snow people…" he added nervously._

" _Chandler," Monica said, a little more forcefully this time, placing her palm against his chest. "Stop."_

 _He looked down into her blue eyes and sucked in his breath._

" _It's perfect," she said, giving him a bright smile. He let out the breath he was holding and smiled back at her..._

Oh, he was in deep. He knew he was in deep. The past few months had been some of the happiest of his life, but now he could almost see the end was near. It was already early March and the girls were due May 8. The fantasy world he'd finally acknowledged to himself that he'd been building all along inside his mind would have to come to end.

"Hey?" Rachel said somewhat surprised, as she walked into her apartment after work. Chandler jumped from the doorway of her bedroom and spun around quickly.

"Oh, hey, Rach," he said, nervously shoving his hands in his pockets. Rachel noticed his briefcase was resting again her bedroom door frame.

"What're you doing?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Monica's at work…"

"Yeah, I know, I, uh…" he said, gesturing toward her bedroom then turning back to her. "I was just, um, thinking that...that your walls are kinda pink."

"Yeah…?" Rachel said, with a smirk. "I've noticed..."

"So, I, um," he started looking at Rachel, who was giving him an expectant but confused look. He sighed.

"OK, so, you know how Monica's mom is taking her shopping for nursery furniture next week?" he said, stepping away from the doorway to go sit on the couch.

"Yeah," she said, walking around the white sofa to sit next to him.

"And, uh, ya know how Mon's been stressing out about, uh, how she's going to fit two cribs in her bedroom..." he started.

Rachel smiled softly at him, though he didn't see it as he glanced toward Monica's bedroom. It was really adorable - as well as mind blowing and thought-provoking - how much Chandler was doing to ensure Monica's pregnancy went as smoothly as it possibly could. She wasn't sure if Monica was paying attention to his covert attempts to make things just a little easier on her, but she and Phoebe sure were.

"...and, so, I thought maybe and I...I know it's not ideal and it's a big burden, but…" he continued, fumbling over his words. Rachel finally decided to put him out of his misery.

"Chandler," she said, putting a hand on his arm and grinning at him. "I know what you're going to say and Phoebe and I have already talked about it."

"You have?" he asked, with a blink of surprise.

"Yeah," Rachel said, with a nod. "I know Mon's gonna need my room for the babies."

Chandler winced at the brief look of sadness on her face, but Rachel smiled at him.

"It's OK, really, it is," she said. "Phoebe's roommate is moving out…"

"I'm sorry. Who?" Chandler interrupted, in genuine shock. "Phoebe has a roommate?!"

"I know!" Rachel said in her best Monica voice, making Chandler chuckle. "I didn't know either. Apparently her name is Denise, but we don't have to care what her name is because she's leaving…"

"So you can move in with Pheebs?" Chandler said, hopefully.

"Yep," she said. "That's the plan."

"Oh, thank God," Chandler said in relief, hand on his chest. "Cause there's no room for you at our inn."

He gestured toward his apartment with a mild look of disgust.

"Yeah," Rachel said, getting up now to grab a water bottle out of the fridge. "And how is it going over there?"

"It's crowded," Chandler said, looking at her over the back of the couch, "but it's not like we can kick him out."

"You had no problem just now kicking me out of my own apartment," she said, jokingly.

"I didn't!" Chandler protested. "I just...I was making a suggestion and, hey, you said you and Phoebe already talked about it!"

"We did, we did," she said with a smirk and wave of her hand. "Calm down. I was just giving you a hard time."

Chandler sighed heavily.

"Yeah, I know, I know," he said as she handed him a water. "Thanks. Hey, listen, um...do you think you and Pheebs can tell Monica you talked about it and that maybe, um, the moving out was your idea?"

Rachel raised an eyebrow at him.

"Look," he said with an exasperated yet pleading expression on his face. "I just don't want her to think it's coming from me, OK?"

"Why not?" Rachel asked, studying him carefully.

"Because," Chandler said, looking away then taking a swig from his water bottle. "She already thinks I'm doing 'too much.'

He shrugged.

"Well, are you?" Rachel asked, pensively.

"I don't think...wait, what?" Chandler asked with an edge in his voice. Rachel pursed her lips then opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.

"What, what does that mean, I'm 'doing too much?' he asked, standing up and nervously beginning to pace. Oh, God, were his growing feelings for Monica so obvious?

"I'm just trying to, ya know, make this all easier on her, just like any of us would," he protested.

Rachel followed him with her eyes then sighed.

"I just found you in our apartment sizing up the square-footage of my bedroom to see if it could fit two cribs," she exclaimed, standing up to face him. "I know you we all want very much for this experience to be the best it can be for Mon under the circumstances, but you're acting more like an anxious father than a sperm donor and I just...I'm not sure _you_ even understand how emotionally invested you are in all of this!"

"Yes, I do!" he shouted back at her, his face turning crimson. Rachel was taken aback, but when the smile lit up on her face Chandler backpedaled.

"No," he said, quickly, trying to explain. "What I mean is I'm, I'm just trying to be a good friend, OK? And I...I appreciate us all being on the same page about this. That's all."

"But, Chandler…"

"No, hey, I gotta run," he said, grabbing his briefcase and nervously smoothing down his tie. "But, we're, we're good with the plan, right?"

"Yes," she sighed heavily, as he flew out of the apartment and almost stumbled into his own, his heart racing.

 _ **NOTE: Well, as you might be able to tell, I started this update at Christmas time. Oh, well, better late than never, right? Hope this tides you over until next time, whenever that might be. :) Sidenote - I hang one of those ornaments on my Christmas tree every year & now that baby is signing up for high school tonight! Ugh...I put the "Old" in OldMondlerLover! Ha!**_


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey!"

"Hey," Monica said as she closed her purse and put her overnight bag down forcefully on the kitchen table. Ross closed the apartment door. He could see she was aggravated and assumed he knew the cause.

"I take it our mother has arrived," he said with a smirk.

"Gee, what was your first clue?" she said flippantly, smoothing her hands down over her maternity top then gesturing behind her. "She's in the bathroom."

Ross sighed heavily. His parents, though excited about being grandparents again, were less than thrilled when they heard the news that Chandler was the sperm donor for his sister's twins. He tried to alleviate the tension. He even admitted that it was him, and not Chandler, who smoked marijuana in college - after Monica threatened that his nieces wouldn't know Uncle Ross existed if he didn't own up to it. But his mother still had a snide remark or two about Chandler every time the subject of the babies came up - and they came up a lot.

"What did she say this time?"

"Oh, just the usual crap about Chandler being 'aloof' and her praying that if they are going to take after a male in the bloodline, they'll take after you," she said rolling her eyes and trying to keep her voice down. Ross grinned at that, but she gave him a classic Geller glare. He quickly cleared his throat.

"It's just, it's not fair to him," Monica said, crossing her arms over her big belly. "He's been nothing short of incredible and...and, as we all know, I got him into all this in the first place. I just wish she'd back off. He's been...he's been…"

She paused there, face flushed as she looked away. She placed her palms behind her to massage her already aching lower back. She was grateful that her Mom was going to take her on a two-day shopping spree for the babies, but she was already sore.

And, she was completely over her mother criticizing Chandler. She could not imagine any husband she might have been having these girls with could have been more engaged in her pregnancy experience than he had been.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling that overwhelming rush of emotion she always did when she let herself stop and think, really think, about all he had done for her. She put her hands to her cheeks as Ross walked towards her then pulled her in for hug.

"I know," he said, giving her a gentle squeeze. "She needs to back off. He's really been there for you, hasn't he?"

"Yeah," she said, sniffing and raising her eyes to her brother's. He was taken aback by the tears in them. She smiled softly at him.

"I mean, you have all been amazing, but he…"

"Ross, darling," Judy said as she came out of the bathroom. Ross felt Monica tense up, but he gave her a small squeeze and then greeted his Mom.

"Hi, Mom," he said, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"So, I hear you are moving Rachel into your friend Phoebe's place while we're gone?" she asked.

"Yep, yeah," Ross said, glancing at Monica.

"Well, that's awfully sweet of her, since Monica can't afford a house and, of course, doesn't have a husband or even a real father for the babies to lean on," she said. Ross immediately saw Monica open her mouth to fire back.

"Now, Mom," he said. "Let's focus on the positive here, OK? Healthy twin granddaughters are on their way. Let's keep Mon's blood pressure under control alright?"

Judy turned to Monica, whose death stare at the back of her mother's head turned to a saccharine, albeit fake smile in a instant, but it was enough to get Judy to back down.

"Oh, of course," she said, picking up her purse off the table. "I'm just a mother, after all. All I do is worry!"

"Of course you do," Ross said as he ushered them out of the apartment, rolling his eyes at his sister and picking up her suitcase.

Judy started down the stairs as Monica turned to lock the door.

"You don't need to lock..." Ross started.

"I do right now," she said hotly, through clenched teeth.

"OK, look, I'm serious, just...just try to ignore her," he cautioned.

"Phht," Monica said, with a flick of her wrist. "I may kill her."

"You don't want to have babies in prison," he deadpanned.

"Might be worth it," she shrugged, and Ross chuckled as he followed them down the stairs.

###

"She _really_ doesn't like me much, does she?" Chandler said as he and Ross applied the last coat of paint the next day to Rachel's now empty room. The conversation had turned to the day before and Judy's never-ceasing criticism.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Ross said, attempting to sound convincing. Chandler shot him a disbelieving look.

"OK, maybe not," Ross admitted, then added cautiously. "Monica defended you, but, look I'm not going to stand here and tell you I didn't have misgivings about all this, too."

Chandler put his paintbrush down and turned to his best friend, marveling at the fact that this was the first time Ross had said a word about how he felt about Monica's pregnancy since the day they announced it. Of course, he'd been through holy hell himself the last several months, but Chandler figured this talk was coming at some point. It gave him a warm feeling, though, to know that Monica had defended him to her mother.

"Go on," he nodded to Ross, crossing his arms.

"Oh, hey, not because of you," Ross said quickly. "Seriously, Chandler, If my sister was going to pick anybody to be her sperm donor, I'm glad it was you."

Chandler raised his eyebrows at that, surprised to hear Ross thought that highly of him. Ross grinned.

"I just thought my sister was a little crazy," he said, shaking his head, "rushing into being a mom in a very unconventional way. But, hey, ya know what? I'm Ben's Dad and that was unconventional, too."

Chandler nodded as he contemplated that, agreeing with him.

"And that's worked out really well," Ross added with a chuckle. He slapped Chandler on the shoulder. "So, yeah, it will work out for Monica, too, I know it will. And, honesty, I...I can't thank you enough for all the support you have shown her, ya know? I mean, look at all this!"

Ross looked around the now very pink room, with a smile planted firmly on his face. He smiled at Chandler, who winced just a little, then looked down at the floor.

"Thanks," Chandler said, clearing his throat and nodding. "Yeah, I...I know it's…it's different, but it's been working out so far. Mon's gonna be the best mother, and ya know, of course, I wanna support her as much as I can until she doesn't...they don't...need me anymore…"

Chandler's voice faded away at his last words and he swallowed hard. Ross took a deep breath as Chandler looked past him, out the bedroom window.

"What is it?" Ross asked, concerned about the sad look on his friend's face. Chandler just shook his head.

"Come on, what's on your mind?" he asked again.

Chandler put his hands on his hips and looked back at Ross. Then he sighed and plopped down on one of the two lawn chairs they'd pulled into the middle of the room. After a moment Ross sat beside him as the hairs stood up on the back of his neck. Suddenly he wondered if it was finally all becoming too overwhelming for Chandler, which was ironic because it was something he'd looked out for over the last several months and finally given up worrying about.

He took a deep breath and waited.

"Monica," Chandler finally said quietly, looking down at his fingers now locked together between his bent knees. "She's…I…she's, she's…radiant…"

"She really is," Ross said with a little frown as he studied his friend closely. Chandler looked at him, and before he knew it, the fears and hopes he'd had bottled up inside of him for months spilled out in the middle of the soon-to-be nursery.

"Sometimes when I look at her and I...I feel our, our babies, ya know, these little lives we've somehow created and they're…they're a part of her and a part of…of _me_ , and knowing that on at least _some_ level she wanted this. She wanted these children… _my_ children. Just to know they're, we're a part of each other…it…it does something to me, Ross. I just…I can't explain it, but it does."

Ross smiled a little.

"You wouldn't be human if it didn't, man," Ross said gently. Chandler just shook his head and sighed.

"I wanna be there," he said quietly, looking out at the baby-girl-pink walls all around him. "I wanna be there when they wake up in the middle of the night and need a bottle or need rocked back to sleep and I…I want to be there when Monica wakes up and...and needs...well, anything…"

Chandler stopped talking as his face turned bright red. He shot a quick glance at Ross then looked away.

"You're talking about more than the babies now, aren't you?" Ross asked after a moment, a hint of surprise in his voice. Chandler shifted somewhat uncomfortably next to him.

"You want to be with Monica, too, don't you?" Ross asked softly.

Chandler dropped his head, lacing his fingers behind his neck. Ross just stared at him, an uncertain joy growing in his chest. He'd been watching them for months as they'd gotten ready for the girls to be born. They'd methodically planned like only Monica could, and when they found out there were two babies instead of one they'd learned to be flexible in a way only Chandler could manage.

The ebb and flow had been something Ross envied, though he wouldn't admit it. It was something his relationship with Emily had lacked. They'd jumped into marriage feet first without a foundation to land on. Monica and Chandler had tiptoed into non-traditional parenting on the solid footing they'd established a long time ago.

The fact that it seemed Chandler was now falling for his sister made complete sense to him. His friend was the awkward ying to his sister's quirky yang and they worked very well together. And if the way his sister defended Chandler was any indication, there was a good chance she might just be feeling a few things, too. Ross briefly smiled to himself.

"I think, yeah, I do want to be with her, too," Chandler admitted in almost a whisper. He finally pulled up his head and looked his friend in the eye. "When I think about us and the babies it's…we're always together, ya know? I see us _together_."

Ross grinned at him.

"But that's not how we got into all this," Chandler said with a hollow chuckle, suddenly standing and pacing around the freshly painted room. "She knew. She knew this was going to be all…complicated and she was right it is, but, God, Ross. I want it. I…"

"Yeah?" Ross said, with a little smile, urging him to continue as he watched him pace a hole in the floor.

"Yeah, I just…I…I…argh," he said as he kept pacing, now pressing his hand against his chest, feeling a fullness that was hard to describe, but Ross knew exactly what it was.

"It's an ache, isn't it?" he asked. Chandler stopped pacing and turned to him.

"Yes," he said, a shocked look on his face. "That's it! That's exactly what it is."

Ross nodded.

"I understand," he said. "When Carol was pregnant with Ben all I wanted was what you just described. I wanted us together. I wanted the Mom and the Dad and the baby and Sunday mornings reading the newspaper in bed. I wanted _that_ family."

"Yes!" Chandler said, sitting down the lawn chair again. "That's it. That's _totally_ it only...I didn't, ya know, know I had that in _me_."

Ross chuckled.

"I don't think any of us did, man," he said, patting Chandler on the back. "It's different when you know you've got those babies coming."

"Yeah," Chandler nodded. "It really is. Everything is, I guess." Ross chuckled just a bit and shook his head.

"Talk to her," Ross said after a moment. "Tell her how you feel."

"I know I should, I know," Chandler agreed with a sigh. "But I…I don't want her to feel, ya know, _obligated_ to feel something for me because we're in the middle of all this. That…that wasn't part of the deal."

"Maybe it's time for a new deal," Ross suggested.

"Thank you, President Roosevelt," Chandler smirked and Ross smirked back.

"Listen," Ross said. "I know my sister. She's pretty true to herself. She didn't stay with Richard because she wanted children and he didn't. She's not going pretend to feel something she doesn't just because you are having these kids together."

Chandler nodded and shrugged at the same time.

"OK, so," Ross said with a grin, "there is only one way to find out if she wants to, ah, renegotiate your deal."

Chandler grinned back at him then sighed one more time.

"Yeah, I know," Chandler said, running his hands through his hair nervously, then once again looking out the bedroom window.

"I know."

 _ **NOTE: What? Two updates in less than a month?! Whoa! Don't get too used to it though. Like with many of my stories, some parts are written before others and the bulk of this chapter just happened to be one of those parts. Hope you enjoyed it though and it'll tide you over until next time. :)**_


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